Creating healthy school environments: Supporting student health and academic success

Introduction: Schools play a significant role in the lives of children and most children spend a large amount of their days in schools. The school environment can have a powerful influence on students’ eating and physical activity habits. A supportive school environment includes access to healthy foods and beverages, consistent messages about nutrition and physical activity, and opportunities for students to practice healthy eating and physical activity. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 initiated many changes to the school environment including nutrition standards for school meals and competitive foods, requirements for access to drinking water, and requirements for local school wellness policies.

Approach: This presentation will 1) provide a snapshot of the current school environment through nationally representative data including results from CDC’s School Health Policies and Practices Study; 2) highlight evidence and gaps in the research on the connection between health and academic achievement; and 3) showcase tools and resources to support implementation of evidence-based healthy school environment strategies.

Results:  This presentation will cover research on the effects of the school environment on students’ healthy eating and physical activity, as well as their academic success. Tools and resources that can support evidence-based school health strategies will also be discussed.

Discussion: New federal policies aim to promote students’ health and academic success by focusing on the nutrition and physical activity environment of U.S. schools.  Such policies have the potential to enable millions of children to perform better academically and to develop healthier habits for a lifetime.