Changes in School Environments With Implementation of Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONObesity is rapidly becoming one of the most critical health threats facing the United States. Rates of obesity among adults and children have increased at an alarming rate over the past four decades. Currently, 63% of US adults (1) and more than 33% of children and adolescents (2) may be classified as overweight or obese. The short-and long-term health implications of this epidemic are being considered with alarm by health professionals and policy experts. Among adults, obesity is linked to cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and some cancers. Even more alarming, children are being diagnosed with health problems previously considered to be "adult" conditions. Obese children are at greater risk than their normal-weight peers for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and orthopedic problems (3-5). The complications associated with these conditions, if unchecked, will follow this cohort of children, their health-care providers, and their health-care funders, with many more years of increased rates of morbidity and preventable mortality than preceding generations of children.Numerous experts, including the Institute of Medicine, have suggested that schools provide a unique venue within which to address childhood obesity (6-8). Schools provide access to large numbers of children each year, and children spend a significant portion of their time each weekday, each week, and over their lives in school (8). Further, schools provide daily meals for students; estimates are that more than a third of children's total energy intake occurs at school (9,10). In addition, schools provide health, nutrition, and physical education, all opportunities to teach and model healthy eating and physical activity practices that can help children establish healthy lifestyle practices (8,11,12). The importance of school-based obesity prevention programs grows as children and youth spend more time in school buildings, participating in preschool, before-school, and after-school programs at unprecedented rates (11,12).Schools are responding to concerns over childhood obesity by changing policies related to vending machine availability and contents, measuring and reporting BMI to parents, cafeteria selections and food preparation methods, and physical education requirements (6). Many of these changes are the result of local initiatives; others are being implemented because of statewide legislation, and the quantity and diversity are sufficiently great that the various initiatives are difficult,

Physical Education and Student Activity: Evaluating Implementation of a New Policy in Los Angeles Public Schools

“…Past evaluations of laws or policies to improve PE have found some positive impacts [39,40], but these assessments in LAUSD contribute to the evidence that a more recent focus on standardized testing outcomes and budgetary constraints due to the economic downturn may be hindering the implementation of newer state or district policies aimed at improving PE. A more recent evaluation of school-based childhood obesity policies in Tennessee and Mississippi ending in 2009 that included observations on school sites found that funding constraints and prioritization of standardized test scores over PE negatively impacted policy implementation [41].…”

Weight Status Among Adolescents in States That Govern Competitive Food Nutrition Content

“…[49][50][51][52][53] We also encourage future studies to examine whether students who reside in states with particularly stringent standards (eg, lower limits on fat or sugar content) experience less BMI change. Few states had such stringent standards in 2003, prohibiting us from using stricter criteria to define strong laws.…”

School food and nutrition policy, monitoring and evaluation in the USA

“…These data, as well as historical data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's state School Health Profiles (32) study, the School Health Policies and Programs Study (33,34) and USDA's SNDA-III (14) , support the view that the inconsistent approach to regulating competitive foods in schools needs improvement. The inconsistent approach to restricting competitive foods in schools has not led to universal changes in the availability of such foods nationwide, although several studies have demonstrated that state laws do affect student consumption and access to less healthful foods and beverages such as whole milk, sugar-sweetened beverages and high-fat/salty snacks (35)(36)(37)(38)(39) . And there is emerging, albeit mixed, evidence of the impact of state and/or district competitive food policies on BMI (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45) .…”

“…And there is emerging, albeit mixed, evidence of the impact of state and/or district competitive food policies on BMI (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45) . Given that a number of studies (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51) have demonstrated strong competitive food and/or beverage policies can effectuate changes at the school level, it is expected that the availability of high-fat, high-energy, high-sugar foods and beverages in competitive venues will decline with nationwide standards governing competitive foods and beverages.…”