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Descriptors:
Health Insurance; Risk; Public Health; Diseases; Educational Facilities; Water; Child Health; Poverty; Health Conditions; Environmental Influences; Children; Hazardous Materials; Intervention; Enrollment; School Personnel; Special Education; Minority Group Students; Economically Disadvantaged; Low Income Groups; Lunch Programs; Breakfast Programs; Poisoning; Court Litigation; Pollution

Abstract:
States compel children to attend school; in fact, 98% of all school-age children attend schools--irrespective of conditions. Yet the environmental conditions of decayed facilities or facilities close to hazards can damage children's health and ability to learn. At the same time, it is well documented that healthy school facilities can help children learn, grow, and stay healthy. Today, justice for children can be achieved, but that demands swifter, surer progress on federal, state, and local fronts to ensure that all children have environmentally healthy schools that are clean and in good repair--and when children do not, that they have timely on-site public health interventions to help reduce exposures and have necessary support services. This is a profound pediatric health and environmental justice issue that must not be set aside. "Towards Healthy Schools 2015: Progress on America's Environmental Health Crisis for Children" is the third triennial state-by-state data and policy report on this topic since 2006. "Sick Schools" (2009) and before it "Lessons Learned" (2006) researched and assessed state-by-state data and policies on environmental conditions at schools and risks to children's health, compiling them into a single, unique resource that painted a deeply disturbing picture, in which vulnerable children endure unhealthy schools. "Towards Healthy Schools 2015" cites, as did the two previous reports, basic federal data for public schools, such as total number of buildings; total enrollment; total number of personnel; percentage of children with asthma; percentage of children without health insurance; total number of children receiving special education; total number of children of minority status; and more. New in this edition are three data sets used to illustrate additional risk factors not covered in the first two reports: (1) total number of children eligible for free or reduced price meals (a proxy for poverty status); (2) states requiring schools to keep asthma/allergy incident reports; and (3) states requiring inspection of school drinking water outlets for lead. Appended are: (1) State Data Table Footnotes; (2) US Environmental Protection Agency: Office of Children's Health; (3) US Department of Education: Green Ribbon Schools; (4) Map: School Equity Funding Lawsuits in the States; and (5) Coalition for Healthier Schools: Position Statement and Policy Recommendations. (Contains 30 endnotes.) [Additional funding was provided by the Wallace Genetic and the Marisla Foundation.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Minority Group Students; Counseling Services; School Counseling; Correlation; Outcomes of Education; Eligibility; Lunch Programs; Academic Achievement; Institutional Characteristics

Abstract:
This study explored relationships among school counseling practices, secondary school demographics, and student outcomes in the state of Rhode Island during a 2-year period. The results showed strong and consistent correlations between increased amounts of school counseling services and positive student outcomes. Schools with higher percentages of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch status and with higher percentages of minority students provided fewer comprehensive counseling services for their students. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Siblings; Rural Youth; Academic Aspiration; Social Capital; Minority Groups; Role; National Surveys; High School Students; Correlation; Occupational Aspiration; Prediction; Minority Group Students; Parent Child Relationship; Educational Attainment; Lunch Programs; Higher Education

Abstract:
Drawing on a recent national survey of rural high school students, this study investigated the relationship between social capital and educational aspirations of rural youth. Results showed that various process features of family and school social capital were important for predicting rural youths' educational aspirations beyond sociodemographic background. In particular, parents' and teachers' educational expectations for their child and student, respectively, were positively related to educational aspirations of rural youth. In addition, discussion with parents about college was positively related to educational aspirations of rural youth. On the other hand, there was little evidence to suggest that number of siblings and school proportions of students eligible for free lunch and minority students are related to educational aspirations of rural youth, after controlling for the other variables. We highlight unique features of rural families, schools, and communities that may combine to explain the complexity of the role of social capital in shaping educational aspirations of rural youth. (Contains 2 tables and 10 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Intervention; Food; High School Students; Lunch Programs; Student Behavior; Behavior Modification

Abstract:
Many schools have recently adopted food policies and replaced unhealthy products by healthy foods. Consequently, adolescents are more likely to consume a healthy meal if they stay in school for lunch to eat a meal either prepared at home or purchased in school cafeterias. However, many continue to eat in nearby fast-food restaurants. The present paper describes the development of a theory-based intervention programme aimed at encouraging high school students to stay in school for lunch. Intervention Mapping and the Theory of Planned Behaviour served as theoretical frameworks to guide the development of a 12-week intervention programme of activities addressing intention, descriptive norm, perceived behavioural control and attitude. It was offered to students and their parents with several practical applications, such as structural environmental changes, and educational activities, such as audio and electronic messages, posters, cooking sessions, pamphlets, improvisation play theatre, quiz, and conferences. The programme considers theoretical and empirical data, taking into account specific beliefs and contexts of the target population. This paper should help programme planners in the development of appropriate interventions addressing the problem. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Recognition (Achievement); Physical Activities; Technical Assistance; Dietetics; Nutrition; Obesity; Health Promotion; Child Health; Food; Physical Activity Level; School Policy; Lunch Programs; Grants

Abstract:
The Healthy Schools Program provides technical assistance to help schools engage administrators, teachers, parents and vendors in increasing access to physical activity and healthier foods for students and staff. Current grants run to September 2013. The program addresses two policy priorities of the Childhood Obesity team: (1) Ensure that all foods and beverages served and sold in schools meet or exceed the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans; (2) Increase the time, intensity and duration of physical activity during the school day and during out-of-school programs. The Healthy Schools Program is not a classroom curriculum or a prescription for gym activities. Instead, the program is trying to make kids healthier by improving their schools' policies and practices--everything from what's served in the cafeteria to how long recess lasts. Significant results of the program include: (1) Of 1,313 schools that enrolled prior to September 2009 and completed a follow-up wellness assessment, three-quarters made at least one improvement in one of the eight targeted areas; (2) At the program's June 2010 recognition ceremony, 179 schools earned awards--148 bronze, 30 silver and one gold. While that is only a fraction of the participating schools, the achievement was still an increase of more than 50 percent over the number of schools recognized in the previous year; (3) The gold recognition award--the first for any school--went to Memorial High School in West New York, N.J. Gold requires satisfaction of most of the criteria. Platinum takes basically 100 percent compliance. A bibliography is included. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Physical Education; Physical Activities; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Influences; Lunch Programs; Food Service; International Schools; Nutrition; Intramural Athletics; School Policy; Secondary Schools; Food; Dietetics; Breakfast Programs; Dining Facilities; Student Participation; Exercise; Prevention; Obesity; Middle School Students; High School Students; Eligibility; Competition; Marketing

Abstract:
This report provides updated results from one of the most comprehensive studies of health-related policies and practices in U.S. public middle and high schools to date, which was released in August 2011. The major findings and trends presented in this report describe issues relevant to childhood obesity for four school years, from 2006-07 to 2009-10. The authors examine foods and beverages offered through the National School Lunch Program and outside of school meal programs, including those sold in vending machines, school stores and a la carte cafeteria lines. They also examine physical education requirements and rates of participation; participation in varsity and intramural sports; and walking and bicycling to and from school. This report offers timely insights for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to consider as it continues implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The report also helps inform future policies that aim to prevent obesity and improve children's diets, physical activity levels and overall health. Since their study began in 2007, there have been some improvements in the nutrition environment of U.S. public secondary schools. Many schools have been making an effort to offer students healthier foods and beverages for lunch and to provide healthier options in competitive venues, such as vending machines, school stores and a la carte cafeteria lines. Yet, most students still had easy access to pizza, french fries, sugary drinks and junk foods. This report highlights a number of conditions in middle and high schools that may be contributing to disparities across socioeconomic levels and across the racial and ethnic groups served. (Contains 6 figures, 2 tables, and 9 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Social Justice; Educational Change; Cancer; Barriers; Poverty; Immigrants; Science Teachers; Secondary School Teachers; Lunch Programs; Second Language Learning; English (Second Language); Fiction; Environmental Influences; Social Influences; Political Influences; Medical Services; Biology

Abstract:
The author has spent six years teaching high school science in Southeast Portland. It is located in the heart of the largest immigrant area in the city, and at least 80 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Every day she witnesses how poverty and language barriers create serious challenges in her students' lives. Many students have raised their hands on the first day of the unit to tell the class about a family member who has survived, is suffering, or has died from cancer. Her unit had always started with students reading fictionalized stories of a diverse range of people who develop cancer (National Institutes of Health). This article describes how the author expands her curriculum to include the impact of cancer on her students' lives, and the environmental, social, and political realities of who gets sick and who gets treated. (Contains 3 online resources.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Change Strategies; Organizational Change; Long Range Planning; Lunch Programs; Nutrition; Food Standards; Health Behavior; Health Promotion; Sustainability; Program Improvement; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation

Abstract:
Given a choice, most administrators, staff, and students would probably choose food from home over the school offerings. What about those without a choice? Students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch are stuck with school lunches, which are sometimes the most balanced meal they'll get that day. Many others opt for school lunches out of convenience, as parents and students collectively struggle with time management. Parents and students are demanding higher-quality food, but will more wholesome food cost more money? Can schools afford to provide it? Will kids eat it? Niles Township High School District 219, located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, has been seeking new answers to these universal questions. This Illinois district is on a mission to contribute to the health of its staff and students and the well-being of the environment. The author discusses how the district creates a plan for systematic change. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Eligibility; Disadvantaged; Ethnic Groups; Foreign Countries; Lunch Programs; Profiles; Student Characteristics; Educational Finance

Abstract:
This paper presents a description of the background characteristics and attainment profile of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in England, and of those missing a value for this variable. Free school meal eligibility is a measure of low parental income, widely used in social policy research as an individual indicator of potential disadvantage. It is routinely treated as context for judging both individual and school-level attainment, as an indicator of school composition, and has been proposed as the basis for the pupil premium funding policy for schools. Knowledge of the quality, reach and limitations of FSM as an indicator is therefore fundamental to accurate decision-making in a number of important areas. This paper uses a national dataset of all pupils (PLASC) for 2007. It looks at the relationship between different indicators of pupil background and attainment to help decide how useful FSM remains in relation to its suggested alternatives, and how to handle the crucial question of missing data and to describe more fully than previously the national picture of who is eligible for free school meals. The results show that, while the distinction between take-up and eligibility has been eroded, FSM remains a useful and clear stratifying variable for pupil attainment patterns in school, linked to type of school attended, school mobility, living in care, special needs, first language and minority ethnic group. The pupils missing FSM values fall into two groups, based largely on their type of school and how long they have been there. One group attends fee-paying schools and is most similar to non-FSM pupils elsewhere and could be aggregated with them in future analyses that do not want to omit them. The remaining missing FSM pupils form a deprived and perhaps super-deprived group. These should not be omitted, nor assumed to be like non-FSM pupils, as currently happens in official school performance figures in England in a way that disadvantages schools with very deprived intakes. The proposal here is that missing FSM pupils in state-funded institutions should be treated in future as a third distinct group. If these issues about missing data are resolved, and other limitations accepted, FSM remains a better indicator of low socioeconomic status than the current alternatives discussed in the paper. (Contains 8 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Children; After School Programs; Eating Habits; Nutrition; Hypertension; Obesity; Body Composition; Body Weight; Semi Structured Interviews; Physical Activities; Diabetes; Child Health; Lunch Programs; Food

Abstract:
More than 30 percent of American children are either overweight or obese, with a body mass index (BMI) in the 85th percentile or above. Although prevalence varies by age, sex, and ethnicity, all groups are affected. Risk of serious health problems increases with increasing BMI. Childhood obesity, characterized by BMI in the 95th percentile or above, affects 16.9 percent of two- to nineteen-year-olds; it is associated with increased risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. Childhood obesity also increases the risk of obesity and chronic disease during adulthood. Out-of-school time (OST) programs, which serve over 8 million children per year, are a promising setting for nurturing healthy eating habits. OST programs can be part of the solution to the growing epidemic of child obesity. A first step is to understand current practices and learn about supports for--and barriers to--providing nutritious foods in afterschool programs. The authors used qualitative research methods to explore healthy eating concepts among OST program administrators. They examined their perception of the importance of the childhood obesity epidemic in relation to their mission. They also explored perceived barriers to serving healthful foods and the potential utility of guidelines and other managerial supports in helping programs adopt healthy eating practices. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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