February 28, 2013 New Report on Efforts to Improve School District Wellness Policies Five Years After Federal Mandate Dear colleagues, We at Bridging the Gap are pleased to share our new report that highlights major findings and trends in school district wellness policies, including updates on each of the federally-mandated components of these policies: school meals, competitive foods, nutrition education, physical activity, and implementation and evaluation. The report, School District Wellness Policies: Evaluating Progress and Potential for Improving Children's Health Five Years after the Federal Mandate<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001kyB7IAOwaLTqj0S0QqJ118M6lr4yfRKGYSasnthurVi6YEWpPSkkEgk07PEbvyMVr9WyNZAx0u0is49qu3PBVv6SkogJovoOYRSpEgObqFvf4CuR9VgbIWmbQhklZHg5a1zFdLK9hZlDC30l_FC-whCr9617TuAQ7ybR1bFH_fyeC7ifmJHV2QlIIErD82san8HMAcRgOrLuKLjhKg9dtnSitSubh2OxwfBzvTPV1KR60FJasHFZ90zf1UjGer27O9rUhwM-7uTsMWAA9-uUPA1NwF_wrAbkgT8Q7cSy9-Lhwvy16k-saet2cLjOugw9zcuFWju6PkStuZgqPkwZZw==>, describes policy opportunities for advocates and decision-makers at the district, state, and federal levels that are based on nationally representative data from five school years, 2006-07 through 2010-11. Highlights from the report include: Overall progress Districts have made progress in adopting wellness policies, and in making those policies more comprehensive and stronger, but the policies remain weak overall and have been stagnant over the past three school years. Competitive foods Among all the required provisions, guidelines for competitive foods (the foods and drinks sold outside of school meal programs) were the weakest and the least likely to be adopted by districts. In fact, only 61 percent of students were in a district that had competitive food guidelines in 2010-11. Our report also compares districts' guidelines with the 2007 Institute of Medicine nutritional standards for competitive foods and offers insight that is especially relevant to the USDA's recently proposed rule<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001kyB7IAOwaLT4k0WxKb39dM_YDn5qTpYFsvxSw0tWf_QVTSx59jhDHbxId965Wjj5rpxBZITi8wTVHlgkU6KqfRAlZuEPpEkzXiAdbk4dbEqrbJ515Kr2bh7n4VkEkhW3UCigZ-DI73_v4Ke063abwIwS2UU4yY7UWgkuWZhMKCDF7Z1SDPcxvoVoocqFGOgnE3i0coG9F73636WzfdbopT6eLpTz4pX3VSQS6rcuRserXb3bVA8rWM67idHuMN6IJ1hK4It1FNvP5_6BiwWObPoEbZ1-GFTBfRTBl6hKn37eE6aYRRz5HrncDvc6nTl88YrA61Cu6R2G4aQF5p0OhKUwSXoj0C1_F5HpuiXdTY-CPTPcLDaQCohzwnI0fxd-xeP9lDNSYbZaTM8hDXvdahjVBsnBIWYjErcVNSoHBF7Oi-9oYzbP0789swAh-zf5giXsQmGUeE-kccht33hxYaPkq2IasT1rojJ_-XxJuixgfym4Ebs0T1PEFnhXjafpV5bW5417DMC3DzB-LqAPa0NxBtZJmcsO4WM4wCoVU29aneKWPzpaCjh8hn_K_gWacLQ38an_9L1NmeVI2rJ9JANxMOiFoKCqj_aVfhpsz90DMEqdZtjREiKlWz_pswzDjAuFqHVS6OdlyJzgJc0EHnw7nG30C8uh> on nutritional standards for competitive foods, which is open for public comment until April 9th. Physical activity and physical education Provisions related to physical activity and physical education have remained relatively weak. However, it's worth noting that nearly 95 percent of students were in a district with a wellness policy that addressed physical education in 2010-11, even though physical education is not a required wellness policy component. Wellness policy reporting requirements We've added a new section with data about the reporting provisions currently addressed in the wellness policies that are required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. This information may help inform the USDA's forthcoming rule about district wellness policies. For a copy of the new report, related materials, and for more information on Bridging the Gap, see: www.bridgingthegapresearch.org<http://www.bridgingthegapresearch.org/>. If you have any questions about the report, please contact lead author, Dr. Jamie Chriqui, at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. Best, Bridging the Gap Help spread the word via Twitter! Feel free to use any of these sample tweets to let others know about BTG's new report: Overall progress Check out @BTGresearch's new report on #schoolwellness policies nationwide, updated with 2010-11 #school year: http://bit.ly/Z3Cfov Local wellness policies improved since 2006-07, but progress stalled & policies are relatively weak: http://bit.ly/Z3Cfov via @BTGresearch Competitive foods New @BTGresearch report finds many school districts banned #soda sales; far fewer banned other #sugarydrink sales: http://bit.ly/Z3Cfov #Nutrition standards for school snacks & drinks should address all grade levels & locations of sale: http://bit.ly/Z3Cfov via @BTGresearch Physical activity and physical education Most #students in 2010-11 were in a district that did not require #physicalactivity outside of PE: http://bit.ly/Z3Cfov via @BTGresearch Few local wellness policies specify an amount of time for #physicalactivity during the #school day: http://bit.ly/Z3Cfov via @BTGresearch [A program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.]<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001kyB7IAOwaLTRh9K-u7uo9l8YW85OayiR-JAxmf5XdsjOTJ9fDC2m8-maPoxSBrPklG8rbmBFFU2UoUdiz6t3YXdQ0DPrRLsaNGG4LjnUh8xPhiPHmNhiAqf6_UVbwuzFLRGHWhKUDqA6EzaTfyuFeAkg3zDMjXqrRcZbjy7bX33WKkp9DFrjib637H_51SEHwPwuvukEeABSVArMp9tHx7x5Q6vHQVFXNMqpmMT-UqSWVBbk0c1e_gBv_KuAo828WlQXuMREJtE=> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the NFS-L List, please send an E-mail to: "[log in to unmask]". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF NFS-L".