the wellness impact: enhancing academic success through healthy school environments sara robbins, rd...
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The Wellness Impact:Enhancing Academic Success through Healthy School Environments
Sara Robbins, RDDairy MaxJuly 25, 2013
• Today’s environment
• New understanding on connections between nutrition, physical activity and cognition.
• Schools’ role more important than ever – cost to not improving wellness
• Barriers to implementing wellness policies
• Actions for school and community stakeholders
Overview
•Almost one-third of youth ages 2-19 are overweight or obese
•Over 22% of children live in food-insecure homes
The Double Burden of Obesity and Malnutrition
Conditions such as:•High Cholesterol• Type 2 Diabetes/Impaired Glucose Tolerance•High Blood Pressure• Social Problems andPoor Self-Esteem• Sleep Disturbances•Orthopedic Problems
Overweight or Obese Children Are at Risk for
Demographic Shifts• Aging of
America• Minority
segments
Healthcare Costs • Continue to rise• Major concern of
employers
Future Job Market•Knowledge-base not physical labor•New skills
Contextual Factors Shaping the Future
Physical Activity – Healthy Eating Are Linked With……
Academic Success
Health & Well-being
Risk for:ObesityChronic
conditionsChronic Disease
Mutually Reinforcing
HIGHER ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT
POSITIVE HEALTH
BEHAVIORS
Still the target.
Nutrition results are inNew
The BrainWhere it begins
• Brain functions may be enhanced or hindered by nutrition and physical activity, or lack thereof, throughout lifetime
• Brain self-modifies to adapt to its environment
• Some research indicates nutrition and physical activity can affect pre-frontal cortex
• This part of brain regulates executive functions: working memory, judgment or inhibition, and problem solving
What you eat or don’t eat matters
to your brain
Benefits of Breakfast at School
Improved
attention
Increased math &
reading scores
Fewer disciplinary referrals
Fewer visits to health
office
Less tardiness
Improved attendance
Improving School Performance
Breakfast makes academic and economic sense
• Neural networks had different activation patterns in breakfast-eaters versus non-eaters
• More effort was needed by breakfast skippers; more mistakes, too
• Studies in well-nourished children who skipped breakfast found adverse effects on attention and memory
Breakfast Comes in Many Forms
• Changes to cognition after single bout of exercise, a 20-minute walk
• Imaging shows more brain activity in active person than in person sitting quietly
• Other research shows obesity may have negative effects on cognition
Tracking Cognitive Effectsof Physical Activity
CDC assessment of school-based activity and achievement found:
• Increasing or maintaining time for PE does not adversely impact academic performance
• Substantial evidence that school-based physical activity can: • Improve academic achievement
(including grades and standardized test scores)
• Impact cognitive skills, attitudes toward school and academic behavior
CDC Assessment: School-based Physical Activity
and Academic Achievement
Neuro-Imaging Suggests Association
• Physical activity may positively impact academic achievement
• Some research indicates brains of aerobically fit children exhibit superior executive functions
• Some research indicates benefits include resistance to distraction, improved math and reading scores
Physical Activity Integrated into Class
- Students who spent more time being physically active (school and home) had better test scores for reading, math and spelling
- Adding activity breaks did not disrupt learning
- Students were more active when teachers participated in activities, too
- Compared with control group, physically active students improved academic performance
What does status quo
co t?
Survey of High School Students Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System 2011
• Less than 1/3 of students reported having 3 servings of fruit
• Only 15% of students reported having 3 servings of vegetables
• 15% of students reported having 3 servings of milk
• Breakfast was eaten on all 7 days most often by white 40%, Hispanic 37% and black 31% students
Data self-reported by students on the 7 days prior to the survey
Percent of High School Students Who Had:
0% 25% 50% 75%
30%
33%
52%
26%
28%
49%
27%
30%
54%
-Hispanic
-Black
-White
YRBS, 2011
PE Class 1+day(s)/week
PE class daily
Physically Active 60+min/day on
all 7 days
Inequities persist• Socioeconomic (SES) status is
connected to school wellness• High school students in low-SES schools
are less likely than their peers in high-SES schools to have established wellness policies (69% vs. 84%)
• Similar gaps exist regarding:• participation opportunities in sports programs • amount of formal nutrition education offered
Socioeconomic
Status
School Wellness
Academic Performa
nce
• Overweight or obese children and adolescents in every grade experience poorer academic outcomes than normal-weight peers
Status of Landmark School Wellness Policies
• Implementation varies greatly between and within districts
• Enforcement of wellness policies largely missing
• Many districts do not name a “point person” for evaluating and evolving policies for nutrition and physical activity
CDC School Health Profiles 2010:Healthy Eating
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Percentage range of schools and median number across states that:
Used pricing strategies to lower cost of healthy foods and increase unhealthy foodsCollected suggestions on promoting healthy eating
Provided nutrition info
Conducted taste tests
Provided students cafeteria tours
Implemented 3+ of above strategies
Range Median
From 2009-2010 school yearSource: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/profiles/2010/profiles_report.pdf
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Percentage range and median number of schools across states that :
Required PE for students in any of grades 6-12
Did NOT allow students in any of grades 6-12 to be exempt
Offered opportunities for students to participate in intramural or activity clubsOffered community sponsored PA classes/lessons outside of school hours at the school
CDC School Health Profiles 2010:Physical Activity
Range Median
From 2009-2010 school yearSource: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/profiles/2010/profiles_report.pdf
Ignoring School WellnessThe Costs Mount
•Costs to children•Costs to schools•Costs to society
Overweight and Obesity Costs in the U.S.
Obesity-related illness is estimated at $190 billion
• 21% of annual medical spending is associated with obesity-related illness
• Childhood obesity costs alone are estimated at $14 billion for direct medical costs
Source: Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation , Institute of Medicine, 2012
Military Preparedness
• “Mission Readiness” estimates that as many as a fourth of military-age youth are ineligible for service because of their weight
•$1 billion spent per year treating weight-related diseases
Cost to Business• Annual losses to businesses from obesity-related
absenteeism estimated to be over $4 billion
• Survey of human resources professionals cited leading factor that will have the largest impact on the workplace over the next five years:
#1 emerging content area in terms of its
importance for future graduates entering the U.S. workforce in the next five years:
Rising Health Care Costs
Making Appropriate Choices Concerning Health and Wellness
Source: Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of new Entrants to the 21st Century Workforce
Common Barriers to Wellness
• Lack of:• Time• Money• Support
• No prioritization of wellness• Unavailability of tools/training for implementing
wellness practices• Poor communication and education of
stakeholders
Creating a Culture of WellnessA Realistic View
Culture of Wellness
Wellness Policies
Support System
Communication &
Promotion
Create a Support System
•Take leadership role in setting tone and vision for healthy schools
•Communicate link between nutrition, physical activity and achievement
•Establish wellness council and create strong wellness policy
• Involve students!
•Gather data about health and wellness policies/practices and evaluate impact
Instill Comprehensive Wellness Policies
• Provide additional opportunities for students to be physically active
• Reach out to families and community partners for support
• Be a healthy role model and encourage others to be role models, as well
Communicate and Promote School Wellness
• Expand school breakfast, and offer alternative breakfast opportunities at school
• Make sure all food served and sold at school – including school meals and “competitive” foods – is appealing, nutritious and aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• Ensure that high-quality, standards-based physical education is offered to all students in all grades
• Provide standards-based health education to all students in all grades
• Provide recess for elementary school students and in-class physical activity breaks for all students
Resources
• Build schools’ capacity for implementing wellness policies
• Places students at the forefront in helping to make and participate in healthy changes
• Developed by National Dairy Council and National Football League in collaboration with USDA and other organizations
FuelUpToPlay60.com
Presidential Youth Fitness Programwww.presidentialyouthfitnessprogram.org
Breakfast in the Classroom Resource Center
docs.schoolnutrition.org/SNF/BIC/
Team Nutrition
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn
HealthierUS School Challenge
www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus/index.html
USDA
CDC: School Health Index and Other Resources
www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/shi/
