NOPREN/PAPRN+ School Wellness Working Group Call 3/14/17

Summary, Upcoming Dates, Resources

Call Summary

#wellnesswins Campaign Preview (Alliance, AHA, CDC)

Renee Gross, Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Campaign Purpose: to highlight the progress schools are making and provide access to resources for district and community stakeholders leading up to June 30th compliance deadline

Timeline:

  • Feb/March: finalized concept and messaging,developed partner list and web presence
  • April: release brief to partners and disseminate press release
  • April 17th-May 5th: Campaign hits hard!
  • April 25th: Tweetchat
  • June: disseminate impact report

Get involved: share media messaging, share champion success stories with school districts, participate in April tweet chat, share campaign with school contactsat stakeholder meetings, distribute partner brief

Development and validation of a photo-evidence method to examine drinking water access in schools

Anisha Patel

Associate Professor, University of California San Francisco

Background:

  • Schools are a key location to increase access to/intake of water among children, and state of CA and federal legislation requires that water be available in school food service areas
  • Most administrators report that they meet this requirement, but observations of water access and intake from school sources suggest that their reports are inflated
  • Should rely more on observational data than report, but observation is time consuming

Objective: improve reporting and surveillance of water access by developing/validating a photo-evidence method that is less time-consuming and can be analyzed outside the school setting later

Methods:

  • 30 public elementary, middle, and high schools in San Francisco Bay area
  • Development: used existing tools, content expert review, pre-tested in several settings
  • Validation: one set of researchers conducted in-person audits by taking photographs, then a second set of researchers code photographs, looked at agreement
  • “Effective Access” Criteria: Type of water source, wear and tear, cleanliness, obstructions, water flow, drinking vessels, promotional posters, branding

Results: substantial to excellent agreement for most categories except wear/tear and cleanliness

Next step: Test feasbility of “citizen science” model, working with students to document school eligibility to help schools improve water access

Safe Water in Schools

Christina Hecht

Senior Policy Advisor, Nutrition Policy Institute

As public health professionals, we cannot promote water consumption and insist on provision of potable water without ensuring its safety.

How does water in schools get contaminated?

  • Most (90%) of schools are on public water system, which have varying levels of protection from contaminants such as lead through corrosion control (problem in Flint)
  • Schools not required to test water, but Safe Drinking Water Act calls for voluntary compliance
  • 2015 investigation found that no evidence of testing in 10 states
  • Challenges for school-level testing: unclear/outdated sampling protocols, no health-based benchmark for exposure, and no budget to fix whatever problems they may find

What can be done to meeting HHFKA mandate for provision of potable water?

  • Infrastructure Improvements—federal policies allocating funds for improving water infrastructure
  • 39 bills introduced in 2016 in reaction to Flint
  • Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN)
  • Blueprint to Rebuild the Nation’s Infrastructure
  • Policy briefs: USDA administrative review, FPI memo called “No More Flints,” USDA memo to schools on NSLP/CACFP reminding operators of responsibility and resources
  • Testing and remediation
  • Develop a better tracking system/federal database to inform schools how to test their water and report results, and what resources to use to improve water quality
  • NPI is collecting media reports post-Flint, working on compiling a document about what states are doing (contact Christina for details!)
  • Filter every tap—more complicated than it sounds!

Food insecurity screening algorithm for use in clinical settings

Hilary Seligman

Hunger Safety Net group

Goals:

  • Get feedback from clinical stakeholders, including school nurses, on whether screening algorithm would be useful to identify at-risk students at-risk and connect to community safety net resources
  • Recruit folks who are interested in refining tool to be appropriate in school setting

Links and Resources

#wellnesswins Partner Supporter Brief

Clinical Linkages screening algorithm

National Drinking Water Alliance webpage;contact Christina Hecht to be added to thelistserv

Upcoming Dates

April 16thDeadline for feedback on NIH Strategic Plan for Nutrition Research

April 19th 8:00 am–4:00 pm Annual NOPREN meeting, St Paul, MN

April 25th #wellnesswins Tweetchat

2017 Call Schedule

*Let us know if you would like to present your ongoing, upcoming, or completed work!

April 11th / Caitlin Merlo, CDC
Differences in food and beverage marketing policies and practices in U.S. school districts
ChangeLab Solutions
Resources for LWP compliance for in-school marketing
May 9th / Erin Centeio, Wayne State
Comprehensive programming for the school setting
Pamela Koch and Claire Uno, Tisch Center for Food Education and Policy
Benefits of the Food Corps program
June 13th / Renee Gross, Alliance for a Healthier Generation
#wellnesswins Impact Report
July 11th

School Wellness Resources

*This list that will be updated periodically. Feel free to email if you would like to add something!

Websites
/ USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services Team Nutrition Local School Wellness Policy Helpful Links
/ CDC’s Healthy Schools Local School Wellness Policy Fact Sheet/Helpful Links
/ Managed by Center for Science in the Public Interest, but contains Voices for Healthy Kids (AHA) and Pew resources and Alliance’s model policy, which would be great to promote
/ WellSAT Wellness School Assessment Tool, wellness policy checklists, etc.
/ Action for Healthy Kids
/ Bridging the Gap: Research Informing Policies and Practices for Healthy Youth
/ Alliance for a Healthier Generation
Documents
Team Nutrition’s Local School Wellness Policy Outreach Toolkit / USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services Team Nutrition
A Guide for Incorporating Health and Wellness into School Improvement Plans / National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD)
Resource to Sustain and Strengthen Local Wellness Initiatives / National Food Service Management Institute at University of Mississippi
Listservs
CDC’s Enhancing Coordination Update / How to Subscribe: Provide your name and e-mail address to Enhancing Coordination Update will come from Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
CDC’s Healthy Schools / Sign up to receive email updates from CDC about Nutrition in Schools, Physical Activity and Physical Education in Schools, Obesity Prevention, and Management of Chronic
National Drinking Water Alliance Google Group / Visit
Post
Unsubscribe drinking-water+
Conditions in Schools.
CDC’s Beverage Bulletin / Subscribe, comment, or contribute: Email Sohyun Park at CDC, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, Obesity Prevention and Control Branch