A mixed methods approach to evaluating school wellness policies and academic outcomes in Arizona schools

Since the passage of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, schools participating in federal meals programs have been required to develop, implement and periodically evaluate a school wellness policy. However, wellness policies have historically been regulated as a mandate without financial penalty, leading to questions of the degree and nature of compliance. A strongly written and well-implemented wellness policy can have myriad benefits: Sustainability for grant-funded initiatives; through a requirement to regularly assess implementation, the encouragement to districts to adopt a "living policy" approach; and a proven correlation with higher student academic outcomes. To date, the wellness policies of 173 districts and 459 school sites have been analyzed utilizing the Wellsat rubric developed by the Yale Rudd Center. Using a mixed methods framework, this presentation will discuss findings relating to the degree to which Arizona districts have complied with USDA regulations regarding wellness policies; the strength of policies currently in place and whether a strong wellness policy can be positively correlated with student academic outcomes in Arizona.