Action for Healthy Kids Reports

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This publication is an important overview of the current state of school wellness in America. Assessing the progress thus far and the hurdles to be surmounted, the report features the result of original field research, and key contributions from voices of authority in children's health, education, and school wellness. It also includes an important essay by former U.S. Surgeon General and Founding Chair of Action for Healthy Kids David Satcher, MD, PhD.
Download [Full Report] [Executive Summary]

• Progress or Promises? Press Release
• Progress or Promises? Fact Sheet on State of School Wellness Research
• Progress or Promises? Fact Sheet on Nutritional Quality
• Progress or Promises? Teleconference (audio) led by Dr. David Satcher, Former US Surgeon General and Founding Chair of Action for Healthy Kids. Click link to listen to call using the materials below for reference. NOTE: Depending on the speed of your computer, it may take a while for the audio to begin.
• Progress or Promises? An Action for Healthy Kids Brief for School Administrators
• Progress or Promises? An Action for Healthy Kids Brief for Parents

Additional Action for Healthy Kids Research, Reports, and References

• The State of School Wellness Stakeholder Research [Full Report] [Research Data]
• Helping Youth Make Better Food Choices Research Report
• Game On! The Ultimate Wellness Challenge
• Parents Advocating for School Wellness
• ReCharge! Energizing After-school
• The Learning Connection

This publication provides tips and insights for those who want to work more purposefully to build positive working relationships with educational leaders, to improve the health and wellbeing of students. This resource was developed especially for Action for Healthy Kids Teams to understand and collaborate with school leaders in order to support the goals and objectives of their Action Plans. Direct input from educational leaders is designed to help you cultivate relationships or to take your relationships with school leaders to the next level. The report also offers recommendations on how to build an effective outreach and engagement strategy, as well as insights on how best to engage specific groups of school leaders.   Download Full Report [color]

This report offers a comprehensive description of Action for Healthy Kids' Campaign for School Wellness to ensure that federally mandated local wellness policies bring about improvements to school nutrition and physical activity. As Action for Healthy Kids national grassroots partnership provides the support that schools need, local wellness policies will reach their potential and propel systemic change to ensure that all kids develop the lifelong habits necessary to promote health and learning.   Download Full Report [color]

Last school year, a dozen Illinois schools participated in a project to test various approaches to improving school-based nutrition. These schools implemented strategies to improve student food choices. Several organizations and businesses, including Action for Healthy Kids, were part of a working group which provided technical support and expertise to the schools. This report outlines the work undertaken with these 12 schools, and, importantly, includes several key findings regarding how we can best support our schools as they move from developing their local wellness policies to actually implementing and monitoring those policies.   Download Full Report [color]

A new field report from Michigan Action for Healthy Kids, features the Team's collaboration with the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Department of Community Health to facilitate statewide implementation of Local Wellness Policies. Local Wellness Policy Implementation: Strategies and Successes in Michigan highlights a four-pronged strategy to address the challenge of assisting, measuring, and influencing statewide implementation of meaningful Wellness Policies.   Download Full Report [color]

This field report from Action for Healthy Kids highlights how the Tennessee, Colorado, Missouri, and Alabama Action for Healthy Kids Teams utilized after-school hours to expand, build on, and enhance efforts to encourage good nutrition and physical activity. Using ReCharge! Energizing After-School, these Teams engaged parents in after-school wellness activities, partnered with a local community organization to implement the curriculum and implemented effective strategies for securing and retaining after-school staff, and for providing training. The report demonstrates how after-school can be used to promote healthy eating and physical activity for students, and to support schools’ efforts towards meeting their overall wellness goals.   Download Full Report [color]

This Action for Healthy Kids field report features the projects of three Action for Healthy Kids Teams that focus on improving school wellness practices. The report highlights how the Michigan Team supported Local Wellness Policy implementation by creating and disseminating a nuts-and-bolts Healthy School Toolkit for school districts across the state, and by hosting regional training sessions. The Ohio Team recognized an unfulfilled need in the state’s school wellness landscape and executed a social marketing effort that focused on encouraging greater school and student participation in school breakfast programs. The third project from the Alabama Team, addressed the shortage of physical activity and education equipment by creating and distributing physical education kits to 35 low-income rural schools.   Download Full Report [color]