Nutrition, Physical Activity, & Obesity
School Health Guidelines to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
Schools play a critical role in improving the dietary and physical activity behaviors of children and adolescents. Schools can create environments supportive of students’ efforts to eat healthy and be active by implementing policies and practices that support healthy eating and regular physical activity and by providing opportunities for students to learn about and practice these behaviors.
CDC synthesized research and best practices related to promoting healthy eating and physical activity in schools, culminating in nine guidelines. These guidelines were informed by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,1 the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans,2 and the Healthy People 2020 objectives related to healthy eating and physical activity among children, adolescents, and schools.3 The guidelines serve as the foundation for developing, implementing, and evaluating school-based healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices for students.
Each of the nine guidelines is accompanied by a set of implementation strategies developed to help schools work towards achieving each guideline. Although the ultimate goal is to implement all nine guidelines included in this document, not every strategy will be appropriate for every school, and some schools, due to resource limitations, might need to implement the guidelines incrementally.
The health of students is linked to their academic success. Both physical activity and healthy eating may help improve academic achievement.4–7
1. Use a coordinated approach to develop, implement, and evaluate healthy eating
and physical activity policies and practices.
2. Establish school environments that support healthy eating and physical
activity.
3. Provide a quality school meal program and ensure that students have only
appealing, healthy food and beverage choices offered outside of the school
meal program.
4. Implement a comprehensive physical activity program with quality physical
education as the cornerstone.
5. Implement health education that provides students with the knowledge,
attitudes, skills, and experiences needed for lifelong healthy eating and
physical activity.
6. Provide students with health, mental health, and social services to address
healthy eating, physical activity, and related chronic disease prevention.
7. Partner with families and community members in the development and
implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies, practices, and
programs.
8. Provide a school employee wellness program that includes healthy eating and
physical activity services for all school staff members.
9. Employ qualified persons, and provide professional development opportunities for physical education, health education, nutrition services, and health, mental health, and social services staff members, as well as staff members who supervise recess, cafeteria time, and out-of-school-time programs.
Healthy eating and regular physical activity play a powerful role in preventing obesity and chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and stroke — the three leading causes of death among adults aged 18 years or older.8–12
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