Local Wellness Policies in Massachusetts:

Do they make the grade?

Lisa Lines, BS, MPH candidate - University of Massachusetts Amherst llines@schoolph.umass.edu

Lisa Guadagno, MS - Health Dialog

Presented at APHA 2007

2

Background

Photo: Ken Hammond, USDA

3

The Law Requires…

Goals for: Nutrition education, physical

activity and other school-based activities

Nutrition guidelines Guidelines for reimbursable

school meals

A plan for measuring implementation

A plan for involving the community

Photo: Ken Hammond, USDA

4

Many Resources Available to Districts

Study Design and Methods

6

Research Questions

1. What are the characteristics of wellness policies in Massachusetts?

2. How many Massachusetts policies are meeting the requirements of the new law?

7

Policy Evaluation Tool

Nutrition education

Physical activity

Other wellness

promotion activities

Nutrition guidelines - all campus

Nutrition guidelines -

school meals

Assessment plan

Scale of 0-3: 0=absent,1=broad, 2=some detail, and 3=detailed

District

8

Districts with a policy posted

online(N=78)

Districts without a policy posted

online(N=130)

All operational public school

districts in Mass.(N=390)

Charter, vocational/technical, and

institutional districtsand districts that do not

serve all grade levelsN=182

(88% of students in Mass.)

Pre-K/K-12 districtsN=208

Selection Methodology for Districts Included in Study

(37% of students in Mass.)

Results

10

Districts Were Fairly Well Distributed Across the State

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Districts with Online Policies Were Similar to Those Without

4,6193,824

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

Districts with onlinepolicy (n=78)

Districts withoutonline policy (n=130)

En

rollm

en

t

18%19%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Districts with onlinepolicy (n=78)

Districts withoutonline policy (n=130)

Pe

rce

nt

Lo

w In

co

me

12

Policy Lengths

Mass.Largest 100

Districts Nationwide*

140 Policies from 49 States**

Mean 6.5 5 5

Range0.5 – 35.1

<1 – 26 <1 – 20

* A Foundation for the Future, School Nutrition Association, 2006** A Foundation for the Future II , School Nutrition Association, 2006

Photo: Ken Hammond, USDA

13

Details, Details

36%

29%

36%

29%

27%

26%

37%

55%

49%

51%

50%

49%

12%

9%

15%

19%

23%

26%

15%

6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Assessment

Other wellness-promotionactivities

Nutrition education

Nutr. guidelines - schoolmeals

Physical activity

Nutr. guidelines - all foodson campus

Broad

Some Detail

Detailed

Missing

14

Nutrition Guidelines – All Foods on Campus

55% of policies covered vending machines

43% covered food as a reward

39% covered school parties, celebrations, and/or fundraisers

Photo: Ken Hammond, USDA

15

Physical Activity: The Bare Minimum

“Physical activity outside of physical education classes will be promoted and encouraged”

“All students will have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active on a regular basis.”

Discussion