LOCAL WELLNESS POLICY COMPONENT 1:
SETTING NUTRITION EDUCATION GOALS
The primary goal of nutrition education is to influence students’ eating behaviors.
1.1 Students in grades pre-K-12 receive nutrition education that is interactive and
teaches the skills they need to adopt healthy eating behaviors.
The Federal Healthy Living Standards information will be given to every teacher.
1.2 Nutrition education is offered in the school dining room as well as in the
classroom, with coordination between the foodservice staff and teachers.
The Food Service Supervisor will organize tours of the cafeteria as a learning laboratory.
1.3 Students receive consistent nutrition messages throughout the school, classroom,
cafeteria, home, community and media. Information will be presents by means of bulletin boards, posters and letters.
1.4 State and district health education curriculum standards and guidelines include both nutrition and physical education.
1.5 Nutrition is integrated into the health education curricula or core curriculum
(e.g., math, science, language arts).
1.6 Schools link nutrition education activities with the coordinated school health program.
1.7 Schools are Team Nutrition Schools and they conduct nutrition education activities and promotions that will involve parents, students, and the community.
Nutritional information will be provided when students taste test foods and giving feedback for food acceptance. Nutritional information and basic education information will be sent to parents. There will community participation at the annual Family Fun Day event.
LOCAL WELLNESS POLICY COMPONENT 2:
SETTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GOALS
The primary goal for the school’s physical activity component is to provide age appropriate opportunities for every student to develop the knowledge and skills for specific physical activities, maintain physical fitness, regularly participate in physical activity, and understand the short-term and long-term benefits of a physically active and healthful lifestyle.
2.1 At a minimum, students should have 30 minutes of planned physical activity daily.
2.2 Students should be given opportunities for physical activity through a range of
after-school programs including intramurals and interscholastic athletics.
2.3 Schools should work with the community to create an environment that is safe and supportive of student’s physically active commute to and from school. This will be achieved by educating students on best practices of how to be safe while on the school bus.
2.4 Each Local Education Authority (LEA) shall establish a School Health Advisory
Council this will utilize the Federal School Healthy Index.
Local Education Authority (LEA) will consider the recommendations of the
individual School Health Advisory Council in making any policy changes that affect the healthy learning environment.
2.5 All activities will compliment and expand upon the efforts begun under the
Coordinated School Health Improvement Act of 1999 Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA 49-1-1001 et seq.)
LOCAL WELLNESS POLICY COMPONENT 3:
ESTABLISHING NUTRITION STANDARDS FOR ALL FOODS AVAILABLE ON SCHOOL CAMPUS DURING THE SCHOOL DAY
Students’ lifelong eating habits are greatly influenced by the types of foods and beverages available to them.
Schools must ensure that reimbursable school meals meet the program requirements and nutrition standards set forth under the Federal USDA requirements 7CFR Part 210 and Part 220.
3.1 Set guidelines for foods and beverages in a la carte sales in the food
service program on school campuses.
3.2 Set guidelines for foods and beverages sold in vending machines, snack
bars, school stores, and concession stands on school campuses.
3.3 Set guidelines for foods and beverages sold as part of school-sponsored
Fundraising activities.
3.4 Fundraising activities will emphasize the sale of non-food items.
3.5 According to Tennessee Code Annotated - TCA 49-6-2307 of TN State
49-6-2307 grades K-8 is:
Approved beverages
Reduced fat (2%), low fat (1%), skin/nonfat fluid milk meeting
State and local standards for pasteurized fluid milk and/or USDA
Approved alternative dairy beverages. *
100% fruit and vegetable juices; and
Water (non-flavored, non-sweetened, and non-carbonated).
Portion sizes for beverages shall not exceed 12 ounces, except for water.
*There are no USDA approved alternative dairy beverages at this time. Public Law 108-265 (Child Nutrition Program Reauthorization) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish nutritionally equivalent non-dairy
beverages by July 1, 2005.
3.6 According to Tennessee Code Annotated - TCA 49-6-2307 of TN State
law is:
Item portions shall meet the following standards:
Calories from total fat must be at or below 35%, excluding nuts,
seeds, and nut butters. This is determined by dividing the calories from the total fat by the total calories and multiplying by 100. If
calories from saturated fat are not available, multiply the grams of
saturated fat by 9 to equal calories from saturated fat.
Calories from saturated fat must be at or below 10%. This
is determined by dividing the calories from saturated fat by the
total calories and multiplying by 100. If calories from saturated
fat are not available, multiply the grams of saturated fat by 9 to
equal calories from saturated fat.
Total sugar must be at or below 35% by weight. This is determined
by dividing the grams of sugar by the gram weight of the product and multiplying by 100. This includes both naturally occurring and added sugars. This limit does not include any fruits and vegetables as defined above.
Portion size for a la carte sales in the school cafeteria are not to
exceed the portion size of a food served in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or National School Breakfast Program (NSBP); for vending sales, the item package or container is not to exceed 200 calories.
LOCAL WELLNESS POLICY COMPONENT 4:
SETTING GOALS FOR OTHER SCHOOL-BASED ACTIVITIES
DESIGNED TO PROMOTE STUDENT WELLNESS
Policies established under this category create a school environment that
provides consistent wellness messages and is conducive to healthy eating and being physically active.
4.1 Provide a clean, safe, enjoyable meal environment for students.
4.2 Provide adequate time for students to enjoy eating healthy food with
friends, scheduled as near the middle of the school day as possible.
4.3 The use of food items as a part of a student incentive program is
strongly discouraged.
It is prohibited to use food as a punishment.
It is prohibited to use food or beverage items of minimal nutritional
value.
It is allowable for Parents to bring in a treat (such as cupcakes) for a child’s birthday and for each school to have a maximum of two (2) celebrations a year that would include foods of minimum nutritional value (for example: Christmas and Valentines). This would teach celebrations and not being rewarded with food. Each celebration will be under the direction of the parents. Teachers will be allowed to utilize food items in educational experiences that have applicable associations with the curriculum that gain prior documented approval from the principal.
4.4 Provide enough space and serving areas to ensure student access to
school meals with a minimal of wait time.
4.5 Each student must receive a minimum of 90 minutes of physical education/activity a week and that time can not be denied for any reason. The denial of student participation in recess or other physical activity, over the 90 minutes of state required minutes, as a form of discipline, or for instructional make-up time is strongly discouraged and at the discretion of the principal.
4.6 Ensure fundraising efforts are supportive of healthy eating.
4.7 Provide on-going professional training and development for
foodservice staff and teachers in the areas of nutrition and physical
education and character development to ensure proper attitude and atmosphere is modeled by all employees in and outside of the cafeteria.
In-services will be provided for training.
The Coordinated School Health Program newsletters will provide information.
4.8 Provide student access to physical activity facilities outside school hours.
The activities will be supervised and/or approved by an adult.
4.9 It is recommended that recess be scheduled before lunch – so that children
will come to lunch less distracted and ready to eat.
4.10 Develop strategies for parents, teachers, school administrators, students,
foodservice professionals and community members to serve as role models in practicing healthy eating and being physically active both in
school and at home.
A mission statement will be created, published and posted by the
individual schools to evoke a healthy lifestyle.
4.11 Evaluation of Effectiveness:
The evaluation will be measured by the annual Coordinated School Health data collection, which includes student wellness information.
Participation rates in school meal programs,
Student satisfaction surveys to monitor the effect that the consumption of healthy snacks has on children’s health, behavior and school performance (and to monitor satisfaction with snack choices), nutritional guidelines are minimal and local programs may adopt more stringent guidelines.
The local school board of education at a minimum shall develop a district policy that ensures the implementation and assigns responsibility for compliance with these rules.
Within one year of the revision of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), the State Board of Education, in consultation and cooperation with the Department of Education and the Department of Health, shall review these rules.