Impact of Physical Educators on Local School Wellness Policies

Authors

  • Matthew T. Buns Minnesota State University, Mankato
  • Katherine T. Thomas University of North Texas

Abstract

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 required school district officials to approve a local school wellness policy by July 2006, making this the first federal legislation requiring school district officials to establish a goal for physical activity and that could focus on physical education. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a sample of local school wellness policies with particular attention to (1) the presence of seven federally mandated components as goals within the policy, (2) characterization of differences among policies created with and without formal input from physical educators, and (3) reference to assessment through having a monitor and a plan to measure implementation. Administrators in every district in Iowa were contacted by mail to complete a brief survey and submit a copy of their local school wellness policy; 241(43%) responded fully. Physical education (75%) and health teachers (64%) were not required committee members, but served on the majority of committees. Policies were examined in two ways. First, policies were examined to determine whether the seven federally mandated components were present. Second, a numeric value was assigned to the characteristics of each goal, nutrition guideline, and assessment plan that was summed (M = 54.5, SD = 28.4) from a possible score of 113. Policies were predictably influenced by committee membership. Having a physical education teacher on the committee had a modest influence on the content of the physical education goal (3.1 vs. 2.4 goal points, ES =0.4) and specific aspects of the physical education goal (more minutes of physical education per week [ES = 0.4], all grades K–12 [ES =0.32]). Physical educators had a positive influence on school wellness policies.

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Published

2015-03-25

Issue

Vol. 72 No. 2 (2015)

Section

Articles

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