Article
Assessing school personnel knowledge of wellness policies
Assessing school personnel knowledge of wellness policies
(2012)
Abstract
Wellness policies were formulated to assist school districts in promoting student health and wellness, prevent and reduce childhood obesity, and provide assurance that school nutrition guidelines meet the minimum federal standards. For policies to be effective school personnel must know what they are and how they can participate in the implementation. Structured interviews were conducted among 39 fourth grade teachers, principals, nurses and food service directors, to determine their knowledge of the wellness policies being implemented in the local schools. Responses were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed using Atlas Ti. Two or more similar responses were determined to be a theme. Participants indicated that nutrition and wellness were promoted primarily in the physical education classes and through the school cafeteria programs. Most were aware that policies related to wellness were mandated but did not know what the policies entailed. They overwhelmingly indicated that teachers, parents, community members and experts in nutrition should be involved in the policy making decisions. This study revealed that although many schools have wellness policies, not all personnel were knowledgeable about the details or its implementation. It is recommended that school districts provide a platform to educate personnel of the wellness policies thus making it easier to implement at the local school levels.
Disciplines
Publication Date
April 1, 2012
Citation Information
Andrea McDonald, Lisako McKyer, Sharon McWhinney, Lenna Dawkins-Moultin, et al.. "Assessing school personnel knowledge of wellness policies" Assessing school personnel knowledge of wellness policies (2012) p. 240.4- - 240.4 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sharon-mcwhinney/1/
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-NC International License.