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TEACHING HEALTHY HABITS

Children spend a lot of time in school, and it is where we lay the foundation for lifelong healthy habits.  In the Building Healthy Communities program, we focus on two aspects of health in the Classroom Education component: nutrition and physical activity.

NUTRITION EDUCATION

Many families struggle to establish healthy eating behaviors for their children at home. In fact, one study on feeding children found that the most common “vegetable” eaten by American kids is the french fry! So, the need for nutrition education in our schools is more important now than ever. By integrating nutrition education, schools give children the knowledge and skills to make lifelong healthy choices.  Despite this, most school children receive significantly less nutrition education than needed to affect behavior change.

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A healthy diet is essential to the well-being of children; research proves that healthy food choices support good overall health, a reduction of future health problems, and improved cognitive function. Given the important role of nutrition for children, schools would ideally engage students in much more nutrition education instruction. But, we know that schools face many competing demands, and this isn’t always possible.

There are many ways to incorporate nutrition information throughout the day and in various locations to provide the flexibility that allows educators to find a good fit for their respective school settings. We’ll tell you more about this in the next section.

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CLASSROOM PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that school-aged children do 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily – but more than half of children don’t get this! Often, schools face a difficult situation – an emphasis on “core” academic subjects has led to reduced free play and less frequent physical education classes. When we couple this with at-home inactivity (fueled by a significant amount of screen time and sedentary behavior), we can easily see why more children are insufficiently active.

But there is good news – schools can be an important site for improving the activity levels and overall health of children.  One important way to do this is through integrating activity throughout the school day, including in the classroom.  Classroom physical activity includes integrating activity into academic instruction and providing breaks throughout the day specifically so that children can be active.  Besides the obvious benefit to children’s health, there are benefits for them as learners too (and their teachers!).

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]According to the CDC, classroom physical activity can benefit students by:

  • Improving their concentration and ability to stay on-task in the classroom.
  • Reducing disruptive behavior, such as fidgeting, in the classroom.
  • Improving their motivation and engagement in the learning process.
  • Helping to improve their academic performance (higher grades and test scores).
  • Increasing their amount of daily physical activity, which can improve physical health.

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ACTIVE BODIES = ACTIVE LISTENERS

A 2013 report, The Wellness Impact: Enhancing Academic Success Through Healthy School Environments, highlights the research of Dr. Charles Hillman, of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Hillman uses neuroimaging to better understand the relationship between children’s physical activity and their brain processes involved in attention, memory, and academic performance. His research illustrates – in a very visual way – the impact of physical activity on brain function, which has important implications for education policy and practice.

To demonstrate the change in cognitive ability with exercise, Dr. Hillman performed a study with 20 children who were an average age of 9.6 years old. On different days, the children were asked to perform a cognitive task and then sit quietly for 20 minutes and then perform the same task again, represented by the first image on the left.

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The second scan on the right represents the children performing the same task, only this time instead of sitting quietly they walked on a treadmill for 20 minutes.  After being physically active, the children responded faster, had a greater allocation of working memory, and made fewer errors than after sitting.

Research shows that breaks can provide more than rest. In the BHC program, we’ll show you how to use them to boost creativity, cognitive function, and social skills – and get your students ready to learn!

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IMPLEMENTING YOUR HEALTHY CLASSROOM

Schools play an important role in shaping lifelong habits for their students. The elementary classroom, in particular, is ideal for establishing healthy behaviors for children because there are lots of opportunities to integrate physical activity and nutrition education into lessons and activities. When classrooms emphasize wellness, they help to build healthy habits and foster physical, emotional, and social benefits for students, which aligns with schools’ core educational missions.

We know that each school, classroom, and teacher is unique, and one plan for healthy activities will not work for everyone. However, determining what a healthy classroom looks like for you will have significant benefits for children and adults. Healthy activities in the classroom can:

  • increase motivation and enjoyment of learning
  • decrease behavioral problems
  • improve concentration and on-task behavior
  • improve test scores

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Sounds good, right?  The good news is that the BHC program makes it easy to build healthy activities, like nutrition education and physical activity, into your everyday classroom routines.  It just takes a little bit of planning, great resources, and some intentionality to start making your school a healthier, happier place for students to learn.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”” shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ row_name=”principal-engagement” css=”.vc_custom_1592254521494{padding-top: 5em !important;padding-bottom: 1em !important;}” el_class=”our-model-card”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”5/12″][vc_single_image image=”1961″ img_size=”medium” full_width=”1″ onclick=”img_link_large” opacity=”100″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”7/12″][vc_column_text]

CLASSROOM TEACHER RESPONSIBILITIES

We’ve already established how important the classroom is as a setting for encouraging healthy behaviors. Despite this, we also know that teachers have a LOT of responsibilities during the school day.  Our goal is to make integrating wellness activities as seamless as possible – so we’ve developed resources to accommodate a range of preferences and interests.

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  • If you’re a teacher who’d prefer to teach nutrition lessons yourself, we provide you with lesson plans in PDF format, which are hosted on our website.
  • If you’d rather use “plug and play” video lessons that we’ve created, we provide that too.
  • If your school is starting the year virtually, we have fully digital lessons with resources for teachers and a “Healthy at Home” curriculum designed for children and their families.
  • Depending on your school’s fall reopening plans, our School Coordinators can also assist with teaching lessons.

Please know that your School Coordinator will work with you to determine the best program implementation plan for this fall.  The Building Healthy Communities program is designed to integrate with a variety of delivery platforms – so we’ve got you covered for whatever format you’d prefer!

We do have some fundamental expectations for classroom teachers when your school receives the Building Healthy Communities grant.  These expectations are designed to model healthy behavior, reinforce the lessons that we teach, promote kids’ healthy habits, and engage children and their families in wellness activities.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”” shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ row_name=”principal-engagement” css=”.vc_custom_1592254521494{padding-top: 5em !important;padding-bottom: 1em !important;}” el_class=”our-model-card”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

SCHOOL WELLNESS POLICIES

Although not an immediate responsibility for Principals, establishing school-wide wellness policies can one of the most impactful outcomes of Building Healthy Communities.  Many schools that we’ve worked with have found that when staff work to promote individual healthy choices, it often leads to more substantial changes in school culture. Over the past decade of Building Healthy Communities, schools have created a range of wellness policies in their buildings, including:

  • 40% of schools changed fundraisers & rewards toward healthier options
  • 30% of schools improved their in-school physical activity policies
  • 25% of schools improved after school physical activity options
  • 25% of schools started non-food rewards policies.

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SCHOOL-WIDE WELLNESS POLICIES

  • Engage staff, parents, and students in a wellness team that can help create and implement policies that focus on health.
  • Rethink how foods and beverages are made available to students and encourage healthy choices (e.g., fundraisers, in classroom parties, classroom snacks brought by parents, incentives).
  • Consider revisiting policies that allow for withholding recess as a behavior management strategy. This has significant impacts on physical and mental health and often worsens behavior outcomes.
  • Improve in-school and develop after-school physical activity options.

CLASSROOM WELLNESS POLICIES

  • Incorporate healthy concepts into cross-curricular lessons.
  • Decorate your room with “food for thought” about healthy choices. Host a door decorating contests or monthly health-related themed activities.
  • Share parent materials to create student support for healthy choices at home.
  • Talk about your healthy choices and invite students to share their healthy choices.

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HEALTHY SCHOOL ACTION TOOL (HSAT)

Your school will make many gains toward increased healthy eating and physical activity this year and we want those changes to become part of your school culture! But, in order for that to happen, we need your help to plan for the future.

The Healthy School Action Tool (HSAT) is a free resource, provided to schools by the state of Michigan, that is useful to assess the health of your current school environment.

At the completion of your assessment, you are provided with suggestions to strengthen your school’s health-focused environment and examples of how other Michigan schools have implemented healthy changes.

Once your school completes the HSAT you are eligible to apply for the state of Michigan’s “School Wellness Award.” This is a rewarding way to showcase your school’s hard work and commitment to creating happy, healthy places for children to learn.

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ACTION STEPS TO GET STARTED

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]1. Work with your assigned school coordinator to set a time for him or her to attend a staff meeting to introduce themselves and the program components. This 30-minute initial meeting is important because it gives your staff a chance to hear an overview of the program, understand their expectations, and ask questions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]2. Next, you’ll need to identify staff to advise the Healthy Kids Club and the Student Leadership Team. The sooner these staff members are chosen, the sooner they can begin to work with your school coordinator and receive onsite training. (Note: these positions are best filled with staff who are enthusiastic, engaging, and available after school.  We offer gift card incentives and/or stipends for advisors who complete the full program implementation).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]3. Once you’ve identified key staff for the implementation of the BHC program in your school building, please share this training and have them to review their component-specific orientation sections.  Then, you’ll want to encourage them to arrange to meet with your school coordinator.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][wvc_testimonial_slider][wvc_testimonial_slide text=”“Learning cannot happen without healthy, happy children. Participation in Building Healthy Communities keeps a focus on this very evident, but often forgotten, element of education.”” name=”BHC Program Principal” rating=”-1″][/wvc_testimonial_slider][/vc_column][/vc_row]