 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Mike Prelip, DPA, MPH1, Heather Weightman, MPH, RD1, Mike Prelip, DPA, MPH1, Wendy Slusser, MD, MS2, Charlotte Neumann, MD, MPH1, Linda O. Lange, DrPH1, and Stephanie A. Vecchiarelli, MPH1. (1) Nutrition Friendly Schools and Communities, UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, P.O. Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, 310-825-4506, mprelip@ucla.edu, (2) Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA Schol of Public Health, Nutrition Friendly Schools and Communities, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772
Rates of overweight children and adolescents have steadily risen over the past 30 years. Many environmental factors including several school related issues such as student access to unhealthy foods and lack of physical education and activity contribute to the epidemic of overweight children. The Nutrition Friendly Schools and Communities (NFSC) program is an ecological model, which impacts the entire school environment including students, staff, and families to promote good nutrition and physical activity. The NFSC model builds upon school strengths to prevent the development of overweight in children. School community stakeholders and the UCLA Nutrition Friendly group collaborated to develop the 15 Steps to a Nutrition Friendly School criteria and self-evaluation tool. The NFSC criteria were modeled around the eight components of the Coordinated School Health Model.
The goals of the session are to introduce participants to the NFSC model and demonstrate the NFSC process. Selection of the criteria, use of the self – evaluation tool, stakeholder involvement, school action plans and application to other settings will be discussed. Presenters will highlight the progress of their current CDC funded pilot study of the NFSC model in a large, urban school district. By the end of the session, participants will be able to: describe the Nutrition Friendly Schools and Communities environmental intervention; identify the process and steps through which a school can take to meet the Nutrition Friendly criteria; and apply the Nutrition Friendly School model to their environments.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: School Health, Nutrition
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.