Nutrition and Physical Education

"A healthy and effective environment for learning involves school cafeterias and nutrition programs; high-quality, standards-based, daily physical education and competitive sports; and family and community involvement." National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE).

Approximately 15 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 19 are overweight. This number has nearly tripled in the last 20 years. Without proper nutrition and physical activity, the tendency to gain weight increases. As long as poor diet and sedentary behavior continue, the chances of becoming overweight or obese climbs higher. Youth who are overweight or obese are more likely to become overweight and obese adults with significant health problems. The number of youth who are diagnosed with "adult" diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, or suffer from risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, have grown to record numbers over the years.

In addition to the physical problems, youth can suffer from psychological problems such as depression, eating disorders and low self-esteem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the estimated total annual health costs attributed to obesity is $117 billion. Nutrition and physical activity are tied together and provide the back drop for, or the ability to prevent, obesity for any age group.

Most youth do not get the recommended daily dietary allowances or the recommended level of daily vigorous physical activity. Teaching youth the benefits of eating healthy foods encourages them to develop and maintain healthy eating habits. However, nutrition education classes are not a requirement in most schools. Offering high-quality and nutritious foods in schools also helps ensure student access to healthy food and beverage choices. Currently, fewer than 35 percent of students attend daily physical activity classes and most schools do not require physical education. Research shows that school-based programs can increase physical activity and improve nutrition among students, and the healthier the student the better his or her academic performance.

States—

2002 Legislative Session

Enacted legislation included bills regarding nutrition education, physical education, and offering alternative foods in schools.

California Assembly Bill 2024 (Chapter 646) authorized the Before and After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program to provide nutrition education as part of its educational enrichment component.
California Assembly Bill 1793 (Chapter 943) and Senate Bill 1868 (Chapter 1166) both involved physical education. AB 1793 pertained to the number of hours of physical instruction offered to students and SB 1868 required the Department of Education to encourage school districts to provide quality physical education and permit exemptions from physical education if the pupil passed the designated physical performance test administered in the 9th grade.
Tennessee House Joint Resolution 646 urged primary and secondary schools to offer students more calcium-rich foods and beverages in their lunch and snack bar programs and the Department of Education to prepare a list of available foods and beverages that are naturally rich in, or fortified with, calcium.
Mississippi Senate Bill 2249 (Chapter Number 585), subject to availability of funds, required the hiring of a physical activity coordinator.
Tennessee Senate Joint Resolution 569 specified that every school age child should have access to, and participate in, daily physical activity; outlined the purpose and focus of physical education classes; and promoted the importance of physical activity in creating and maintaining healthy lifestyles.

2003 Legislative Session

Enacted legislation included bills regarding vending machines in schools, physical education instruction, and establishing committees and councils to coordinate and assist school districts to combat childhood obesity and ensure local community values are reflected in the instruction.

Arkansas House Bill 1583 (Act No. 1220) banned elementary school student's access to vending machines offering food and soda.
Arkansas Senate Bill 936 (Act No. 1729) changed the physical education requirement for students from K-9 to K-8 and required each school district to provide assurance that they have complied with the requirements.
California Senate Bill 78 (Chapter 459) encouraged schools to provide extracurricular physical fitness programs and clubs and encourage the use of school facilities outside of school hours and to authorize the results of student's physical performance test be provided to the pupil orally.
California Senate Bill 677 (Chapter 415) banned vending machine sales of carbonated beverages to elementary, middle and junior high school students and replaces them with milk, water and juice. It also limits access to the machines during the school day.
California Assembly Concurrent Resolution 31 (Chapter 93) recognized that schools have an obligation to provide physical education to students and urge schools to comply with those obligations.
Louisiana Senate Bill 398 (Act No. 814) requires that each public school with grades K-6 provide at least 30 minutes per school day of quality physical activity for students.
Mississippi Senate Bill 2339 (Chapter Number 436) allows local school boards of each school district to establish a local school health/physical education advisory council to assist the district in ensuring that local community values are reflected in the district's health and physical education instruction.

2004 Legislative Session

The following is a sample of legislation that passed:

Alabama Senate Joint Resolution 97 (Act No. 2004-422) urged schools to provide age-appropriate and culturally sensitive instruction relating to eating habits and a physically active lifestyle and urged the state board of education to end the practice of allowing entire school systems to exempt students from physical education requirements and require that final approval for a request to waive physical education requirements be granted only by the board upon recommendation of the state superintendent of education.
Colorado Senate Bill 103 (Chapter No. 166) encourages each school district board of education to adopt a policy providing that at least 50 percent of all items offered in vending machines in each school district be healthful foods or beverages and that they must meet acceptable nutritional standards.
Louisiana Senate Bill 534 (Act No. 734) establishes a three-year pilot program in public schools to assess health-related fitness and changes in weight status of students. One aspect of the program requires limitations on at least 50 percent of the foods and beverages sold outside of the school lunch program and limits access to these products during the school day.
New Hampshire House Bill 1352 (Chapter 33) requires local school board and department of education to develop and adopt a policy recommending that each pupil participate in daily physical activity and exercise to minimize certain childhood health problems.
New York Senate Bill 6738 (Chapter 493) encourages and authorizes school districts to establish a child nutrition advisory committee to study current district nutritional policies such as goals to promote health and proper nutrition, vending machine sales, menu criteria, educational curriculum, healthy nutrition and the risks associated with obesity, and opportunities to encourage healthier eating habits, among other things.
Tennessee House Bill 2783 (Chapter No. 708) requires the state board of education to promulgate rules to establish minimum nutritional standards for individual food items sold or offered for sale to pupils in grades K-8 through vending machines or other sources, including school nutrition programs.
Vermont House Bill 272 (Act No. 161) The commissioner of education shall establish an advisory council on wellness to assist the department of education in planning, coordinating and encouraging wellness programs in schools. Requires the commissioner to collaborate with other agencies and councils working on childhood wellness to supervise the preparation of appropriate nutrition and fitness curricula in schools, prepare and update a list of school and community programs which have the potential to improve childhood wellness, establish and maintain a website, research funding opportunities for schools and communities that want to build wellness programs, and create a process to collect data on the height and weight of students in K-6. Requires the commissioner of education to write a model school fitness and nutrition policy to include nutrition definitions, model physical education curriculum, model physical activity policies, process for implementing and enforcing policies and a process for reporting to the community on the health status of students. The commissioner shall also develop and implement a wellness grant program t help school communities establish a wellness program.

Nutrition Education

Very few states require schools to teach nutrition education to students in any grade. Generally, schools are encouraged to include the information in the curriculum, however, the decision is left up to the local school district or school board to determine what and when to teach the students. This curriculum may be classified under the health class curriculum, physical education curriculum, or as a separate course on nutrition education.

California, Indiana, Louisiana, New Hampshire and Vermont have laws requiring some form of nutrition education.

California encourages school administrators to offer wellness programs that include instruction about healthy eating and physical activity and offer grants to implement garden-enhanced nutrition education. The law also requires the Department of Education to formulate the basic elements of nutrition education programs for child nutrition entities and coordinate instruction with the food service program.
Indiana authorizes the superintendent of public instruction to conduct studies of methods to promote nutritional education in the schools if funds are available.
Louisiana requires an outreach and communication plan consisting of current information and research on health, nutrition, and physical education and fitness issues be developed by several state agencies.
New Hampshire requires the state board to prepare and distribute a nutrition education curriculum to be integrated into regular courses of instruction for kindergarten through grade 12.
Vermont encourages wellness programs in schools and requires the commissioner of education to collaborate with other agencies to supervise the preparation of appropriate nutrition and fitness curricula for use in the public schools, promote programs to prepare teachers to teach the curricula and assist in the development of the wellness programs.

According to the CDC's School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2000—a national survey to assess school health policies and programs at the state, district, school, and classroom levels—35 states have policies that require schools to teach nutrition and dietary behavior to students in elementary, middle/junior high and high school. The SHPPS survey defines policies as any mandate issued by the state school board, state legislature, or other state agency that affects health education in districts or schools.

For the complete breakdown of the CDC's 2000 SHPPS survey go to http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/shpps/summaries/HTML.htm

Specifically for Nutrition information http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/shpps/summaries/index.htm and click on the pdf version of the report.

Vending Machines in Schools

Many cities and school districts across the country have adopted policy changes for the types of food and beverages sold in vending machines in schools.

Debates have ensued regarding soda and food vending machines in elementary, middle/junior and high schools. Some states have enacted legislation to replace existing food and drinks of minimal nutritional value for healthier options or to restrict student access to the machines. This is not just a state issue, however. Some cities and local schools districts have taken the lead and enacted policies to ban or replace certain foods and beverages in vending machines or restrict student access to the machines.

The CDC's SHPPS 2000 survey reported that 43 percent of elementary schools, 89.4 percent of middle/junior high and 98.2 percent of senior high schools had either a vending machine or a school store, canteen, or snack bar where students could purchase "competitive" foods or beverages.

Competitive foods are defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as foods offered at school other than meals served through USDA school meal programs—school breakfast, school lunch and after school snack programs. According to the USDA, competitive food policies exist in many states and include laws that restrict access to food and beverage vending machines, school canteens and stores at certain times during the school day or limit access to foods with minimum nutritional value.

In the 2003 session, two states enacted laws banning vending machines in schools.

Arkansas (Act 1220) banned elementary school students' access to vending machines offering food and soda.
California (Chapter 415) banned vending machine sales of carbonated beverages to elementary, middle and junior high school students and replaced them with milk, water and juice. It also limited student access to vending machines in middle and junior high schools and exempted sales of certain beverages at school events.

In 2004, four states enacted laws regarding vending machines in schools out of approximately 70 bills introduced in 25 states.

Colorado (Chapter 166) encouraged each school district board of education to adopt a policy where at least 50 percent of all items offered in vending machines be healthful foods or healthful beverages and must meet acceptable nutritional standards.
Louisiana (Act No. 734) established a three-year pilot program in public schools to assess health-related fitness and changes in weight status.
Tennessee (Chapter No. 708) required the state board of education to promulgate rules to establish minimum nutritional standards for individual food items sold or offered for sale to pupils in grades K-8 through vending machines or other sources, including school nutrition programs. A school may permit the sale of food items that do not comply with the requirements as part of a school fundraising event.
Washington (Chapter 138) required an advisory committee to develop model policy regarding access to nutritious foods, opportunities for developmentally appropriate exercise, and accurate information related to these topics. The law requires the policy to address the nutritional content of foods and beverages sold and the availability and quality of health, nutrition and physical education and fitness curriculum.

Even though only six states have passed legislation related to vending machines in schools, many states have considered bills and increased attention is expected as the issue of nutrition and obesity continue to remain a focus and on the forefront of health issues.

Physical Education (PE) classes/curriculum

Nearly every state requires some form of physical education in grades Kindergarten through 12. However, due to loop holes and waivers, a lot of youth are skipping PE by participating in other activities. Illinois is the only state that requires physical activity in every grade on a daily basis. Similar to nutrition education curriculum, state and local boards of education usually determine whether to implement and the extent of the requirements of physical education in the schools. These requirements vary greatly between elementary, middle/junior high, and high schools. Due to academic requirements and lack of funding, some schools are phasing out recess and physical education classes. However, with the obesity crisis, some states are rethinking the decision and may re-implement physical education requirements on some level.

According to the CDC's SHPPS 2000, 38 states require schools to teach physical education to all grade levels, including elementary, middle/junior high and high school. This same study indicates that four states (Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and South Dakota) have no requirements when it comes to teaching physical education. In addition, three states (Illinois, Louisiana and Missouri) responded that they require elementary schools to provide regularly scheduled recess breaks for students.

The SHPPS survey defines policies as any mandate issued by the state school board, state legislature, or other state agency that affects physical education and activity in districts or schools. The next SHPPS study will be conducted in January of 2006.

For the complete breakdown of the CDC's 2000 SHPPS survey go to http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/shpps/summaries/HTML.htm

Health and Academic Achievement

Studies support the argument that health and academic achievement go hand in hand. The healthier a person is, both physically and mentally, the better or greater his or her ability to learn and retain knowledge. Based on a study with states that use attendance to help determine state funding, if a student misses school it costs the school district anywhere from $9 to $20 each day. Missing even one school day could potentially cost an average school district anywhere from $95,000 to $160,000 in state aid each year. If students miss one day per month, a large school district like New York could forfeit approximately $28 million in state funds.

Students who are physically active are more alert and have better concentration due to increased oxygen-rich blood circulating to the brain. Physical activity has been related to higher levels of self esteem and lower levels of stress and anxiety and, therefore, higher academic achievement. It has been reported that hungry students perform lower on standardized tests and that poor nutrition decreases cognitive functioning, as well as language, concentration and attention. Students with poor nutrition and low levels of physical fitness are more likely to be absent and tardy. Exercise also improves the behavior of kids diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) according to a study at the State University of New York in Buffalo.

Some schools have implemented breakfast programs similar to the school lunch programs to ensure that students do not go to class hungry or take tests on an empty stomach. This program is effective in boosting the learning ability of students. Studies also show that when kids eat breakfast their test scores improve and absenteeism and tardiness rates are reduced.

Action For Healthy Kids report The Learning Connection: The Value of Improving Nutrition and Physical Activity in Our Schools http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/AFHK/specialreports/index.php

PBS School Health Programs and Academic Achievement http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/whats_new/health/sep01.shtm

Other Sources:

Fit, Healthy, & Ready to Learn! National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) http://www.nasbe.org/HealthySchools/fithealthy.mgi

National Conference of State Legislatures Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity web site http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/phyactobesity.htm

NCSL provides the links above for informational purposes only, and they do not necessarily reflect NCSL positions.

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