The quality of school wellness policies and energy-balance behaviors of adolescent mothers

INTRODUCTION: In this study, we 1) compared the quality of school wellness policies among schools participating in Moms for a Healthy Balance (BALANCE), a school- and home-based weight loss study conducted with postpartum adolescents in 27 states; and 2) assessed the relationship between policy quality with energy-balance behaviors and body mass index z scores of postpartum adolescents. METHODS: As a part of BALANCE, we collected data on high-calorie food and beverage consumption, minutes spent walking, and height and weight for 647 participants. The School Wellness Policy Coding Tool was used to assess the strength and comprehensiveness of school district wellness policies from 251 schools attended by participating adolescent mothers. RESULTS: Schools averaged low scores for wellness policy comprehensiveness and strength. When compared with participants in schools with the lowest policy comprehensiveness scores, adolescent mothers in schools with the highest scores reported consuming significantly fewer daily calories from sweetened beverages while reporting higher consumption of water (P = .04 and P = .01, respectively). School wellness policy strength was associated with lower BMI z scores among adolescent mothers (P = .01). CONCLUSION: School wellness policies associated with BALANCE may be limited in their ability to promote a healthy school environment. Future studies are needed to evaluate the effect of the strength and comprehensiveness of policy language on energy balance in high-risk postpartum adolescents. Evidence from this work can provide additional guidance to federal or state government in mandating not only policy content, but also systematic evaluation

Assessing the Technology Divide in Education: A Survey of State Laws Nationwide

The purpose of this fact sheet is to identify state laws related to technology plans, internet and equipment accessibility, professional development for school staff, and the introduction of virtual school days at the start of the 2021-2022 school year. This fact sheet will also highlight some key pieces of legislation aimed at addressing existing shortcomings in some states’ laws

Preparing for a return to the classroom: The current status of school vaccination laws as states anticipate a COVID-19 vaccine rollout for children

This fact sheet summarizes the extent to which state laws currently address mandated school vaccinations, exemption policies, and plans for modifications and updates and discusses the potential relevance moving forward for COVID-19 vaccination-related requirements for schools.</p

School is in session: An update to the current status of school vaccination laws as COVID-19 vaccines become available to more school-aged children

State laws governing vaccination of school-aged children and their implications for COVID-19 vaccination

“On a Positive Path”: School Superintendents’ Perceptions of and Experiences with Local School Wellness Policy Implementation and Evaluation

Renewed federal requirements for local school wellness policies highlighted the continued importance of supporting school districts as they implement and evaluate wellness initiatives. Superintendents—as school district leaders—play a critical role in wellness policy implementation and evaluation; however, to our knowledge, no studies examine their perspectives or experiences with the most recent federal rule or wellness initiatives more broadly. This study qualitatively examined superintendents’ perspectives, experiences, and recommendations with wellness policy implementation and evaluation. Focus groups (n = 39) and follow-up interviews (n = 14 of the focus group participants) were conducted with superintendents from March to July 2017. Coders organized and coded transcript data using Atlas.ti, Version 8 to facilitate thematic analysis. Superintendents had overall positive perceptions of wellness policies and reported that implementation improved over time. Most described wellness approaches beyond typical wellness policy domains, including social-emotional learning and staff wellness. Evaluation of wellness policies was noted to be a challenge, and superintendents requested more tools and resources, as well as opportunities to learn from “best practices.” Increased local and state accountability were recommended to facilitate motivation for other superintendents to engage with wellness. This study adds to the literature on a critical stakeholder in the school wellness field. Advocates and technical assistance providers can apply superintendents’ recommendations to engage more district leaders in these initiatives

Distribution of volume sold of calorically and noncalorically sweetened beverages: evidence from two U.S. cities

To better understand the extent to which beverages with noncaloric sweeteners are purchased and to what extent they are sweetened with natural substitutes or artificially, this brief describes the volume sold of SSBs and NSBs by sweetener status, based on retail scanner data for Oakland, California, and Sacramento, California, from June 26, 2016 through June 24, 2017