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The Healthy School Food and Beverage Action Kit For Change
The Healthy School Food and Beverage Action Kit for Change is a web-based, interactive tool that walks School Health Councils through the steps of advocating for and implementing school policies and practices that support healthy school food and beverages.
The Healthy School Food and Beverage Action Kit for Change guides School Health Councils through four action phases. Each phase is released every two to three months. The Action Kit is available to ALL schools and communities. We encourage you to work at your own pace.
- Assess the current status of your school nutrition environment
- Gain the support of school board members, school administrators, school health professionals, parents, teachers and community members
- Create an action plan for improving the quality of beverages and foods sold in school
- Implement and evaluate a new school nutrition practice
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the goal of the Healthy School Food and Beverage Action Kit for Change?
The goal of the Action Kit is to help School Health Councils work to improve their school's nutrition environment. The Action Kit will guide School Health Councils through the process of advocating for and implementing policies that support a healthier school environment through a coordinated school health framework.
What is a coordinated school health framework?
A coordinated school health framework is an approach for sending consistent messages about nutrition and physical activity by coordinating efforts from various school departments that impact student health. The eight components of a traditional coordinated school health framework are: health education, physical education, health services, nutrition services, counseling and social services, healthy school environment, health promotion for staff, and family/community involvement.
What are the four phases of the Healthy Food and Beverage Action Kit for Change?
Phase 1: Competitive Foods Assessment
Before School Health Councils determine what actions to take, a school nutrition assessment is conducted to determine the current status of the school's nutrition environment (outside of the school meals program.) Materials and instructions to assess your school's nutrition environment will be provided.
Phase 2: Community Support Activities
A community forum or survey can be used to gather feedback and build support for improvements. Materials provided include a PowerPoint presentation, surveys, flyers, letter templates, media materials, fact sheets, local success stories, recommendations for building support, and other resources.
Phase 3: Action Planning
Areas for improving your school's nutrition environment are categorized into four sections: vending, ala carte, fundraising and school stores. Based on the results of the assessment and the community feedback gathered, we suggest School Health Councils select one of the four areas on which to focus change efforts. Materials include an action planning template, a "how to present to the school board" guide and model school nutrition policies.
Phase 4: The Implementation Process
The final phase focuses on implementing the action plan, pilot testing the changes, reporting to the administration and school board on the outcomes, and developing a proposal for a new nutrition practice/policy. Materials include directions on how to implement and evaluate the changes to the school nutrition environment, and a PowerPoint template for presenting to school board.
What is advocacy?
Advocacy is working to educate and influence decision makers about issues that impact public practice and the allocation of resources. Advocacy targets include: legislators, school board members, school administrators, school health professionals, parents, teachers, and community members.
How can our School Health Council get a Healthy Food and Beverage Action Kit for Change?
The Healthy School Food and Beverage Action Kit complements the Satellite Training on Balancing Healthy School Food and Beverage Choices held March 22, 2005
For more information about the Action Kit, contact Rebecca Stametz, School and Communities Program Coordinator at rstametz@panaonline.org or call (717) 948-6314.
