257656 Using healthy school awards to enhance school wellness guidelines

Monday, October 29, 2012

Becky Rodericks, MSPH , Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Jennifer Ryan, MPH , Healthy Hawaii Initiative, State of Hawaii Department of Health, Honolulu, HI
Stephanie Lee, MPH , Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Hawaii Manoa, Honolulu, HI
Jay Maddock, PhD , Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Background: In 2007, the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) partnered with the Hawaii Department of Education to establish Wellness Guidelines to improve standards for nutrition education, food and beverages, physical activity, and physical education (PE). The Wellness Guidelines support healthy school environments and encourage students to develop life-long healthy habits. Public schools in Hawaii were given four years to implement the Wellness Guidelines.

Purpose: To support implementation of the guidelines, a two-year Healthy School award was developed by the DOH's Healthy Hawaii Initiative in 2009. Through a request for proposals, 15 public, charter, and private schools across the state received an award of up to $9,750 to develop school-level interventions focusing on the Wellness Guidelines (e.g. school policies, systems, or environmental changes). Examples of innovative Healthy School projects and activities will be highlighted including implementing a food to fork curriculum, growing local foods in school gardens, incorporating brain gym and movement activities, inventing healthy beverages through culinary arts programs, using human-powered bicycle blenders, and utilizing technology in PE class. Successes, challenges, lessons learned, and plans for sustainability will also be discussed.

Findings/Results: The Healthy School awards have been divided into four themes: increasing physical activity opportunities; school gardening and nutrition; enhancing health and physical education; and preparing healthy foods. More than 9,000 students, staff, and community members were reached through these Healthy School projects.

Significance: For those interested in developing healthy school interventions, this presentation will share useful and creative examples for enhancing health and physical education in schools.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Advocacy for health and health education
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the core elements of Hawaii’s Wellness Guidelines 2. Describe key components of effective healthy school interventions 3. Identify successes, challenges, and lessons learned from the Healthy School projects

Keywords: School-Based Programs, School Health Educators

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: For the past six years, my scientific interests have included smoking cessation and promotion of physical activity and nutrition. In my current position as a school health evaluator and junior faculty member, I work in partnership with the local Department of Health and Department of Education as the lead school evaluator. Thus far, I have contributed to four oral presentations at national conferences, including APHA last year, and have also presented two posters.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3406.0: School Wellness Policies: Program Implementation and Evaluation