School wellness programs benefit the health of students and their families.
School administrators design and enact school wellness programs for students to promote overall good health. The topics and activities included in school wellness programs depend on funding, staff resources and an evaluation of the needs of the student population. Wellness programs often attempt to get the biggest bang for the buck and focus on overarching goals that impact the most students.
Nutrition
Due to increasing childhood obesity, nutritional wellness programs exist at most schools. The National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, which provide free or discounted lunches and breakfasts to eligible students, incorporate many federal nutritional requirements. These include serving only low-fat and fat-free milk, ensuring half of grains are whole grains and offering a variety of fruits and vegetables. In addition, schools are asked to share the nutritional content of foods with the students and parents, and many employ licensed dietitians for educating the students about nutritional wellness. Schools participating in nutritional wellness programs often provide students with at least 20 minutes to eat their lunch and schedule lunches between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Federal guidelines also specify rules on vending, such that fruit drinks contain at least 50% juice. Because some children would not otherwise receive breakfast, schools often adjust busing and schedules to accommodate serving this meal. Similarly, schools where more than 50% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunches offer summer food service for at least six weeks during the summer.
Physical Activity
According to the National State Boards of Education, poor diet and lack of physical activity combined result in 300,000 deaths among Americans annually. Because habits formed in childhood tend to stick through adulthood, wellness programs should include physical activity in addition to nutrition. Although policies such as daily physical education, recess and extracurricular activities for all students in kindergarten through 12th grade are encouraged by organizations such as Student Wellness Policies.org, many schools cannot accommodate this due to budgetary restrictions for staff, facilities and equipment. Some school wellness programs get around these restrictions by allowing access to school facilities on evenings and weekends as well as during school breaks. Other school wellness programs include before and after school activities such as safe walking routes to and from school and encouraging children to play outside after school and exercise on weekends, breaks and vacations.
General Health
Health education for all students is a cornerstone of most wellness programs and should include information to improve lifelong health. According to Maryland Public Schools.org, these wellness programs should include topics such as communicable diseases, mental health, family health and dental health. Wellness programs for students might also include topics such as domestic violence, tobacco use, relationships, personal safety and sexual health. In addition, Maryland encourages schools to formulate plans for student wellness that merge individual wellness with community wellness; for example, planting a community garden as a class project incorporates nutritional wellness, physical activity and community service. Schools are also encouraged to include parents in student wellness plans. Parental involvement and support allows for continuation of wellness activities into the home and can increase the likelihood that the programs will succeed.
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