State Level Policy Pathways to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Standards in Out-of-School Time Programs

Out-of-school (OST) environments are a key part of  the spectrum of opportunities to reduce and prevent obesity in children. Implementation of nutrition and physical activity standards in OST settings complements school regulations and wellness policies, as well as healthy child development concepts embodied in state child care licensing laws.  Yet, many OST programs are exempt from the nutrition and physical activity standards included in these regulatory schemes. Further, while OST programs share some of the needs and barriers as these settings in promoting nutrition and physical activity, they also present different challenges due to the variety of programs they encompass.  This session will discuss key legal and self-regulatory policy levers available to promote statewide adoption of  national consensus Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) Standards for OST settings developed by the National Institute for OST.  One co-panelist will explain the HEPA standards, how they were developed, and how they are being implemented programmatically to provide context. Another co-panelist will discuss child care licensing laws as a lever for wider implementation, so this session will focus on other policy levers, including: creation of voluntary recognition programs such as California’s DASH law; inclusion in afterschool program funding stream requirements; integration of school age care into voluntary ratings systems for child care; and policies that promote community use of school facilities. Examples from states that are experimenting with these approaches will be provided, and the variety of legal mechanisms for achieving these policy options (legislation, rulemaking, executive order, agency program) will be explained.