Team Member Center

Welcome, Team Members!

We've stocked the Team Member Center with all the tools your team needs to keep up the good work. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.

Learning Opportunities

Parents are the Power!*
Thursday, April 17, 2008
3pm ET/2pm CT/1pm MT/12pm PT
registration is required
Add this event to your outlook calender

It is no secret that parents have a strong voice and can help to advocate for school wellness. However, engaging busy parents can often be a challenge. Action for Healthy Kids is pleased to present William Juzang from MEE Productions and Kristin Tucker from Colorado Action for Healthy Kids, as speakers for this informative call to introduce new tools, resources and replicable strategies from Action for Healthy Kids that can help Teams to meaningfully engage parents.

• What is Parent’s Are The Power? – Kristin Tucker
  
• the Colorado Team’s “Parents are the Power Toolkit
  

Registration is required for this phone symposium. Please register by sending an e-mail to StateTeams@ActionForHealthyKids.org. Call information and supporting documents will be sent to registrants on Tuesday, April 15th.

* “Parents have power,” according to Katie Bark, Chair of Montana Action for Healthy Kids and a nutritionist with Montana State University, “They carry weight. With kids, parents are the voice of authority and permission. With administrators and school boards, they are the voice of the taxpayer.”


View More Upcoming Calendar Items »

Latest Reports and News

Action for Healthy Kids Newsletter: April 2008
	Local Wellness Policy Implementation: Strategies and Successes in Michigan A new field report from Michigan Action for Healthy Kids, features the Team's collaboration with the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Department of Community Health to facilitate statewide implementation of Local Wellness Policies. Local Wellness Policy Implementation: Strategies and Successes in Michigan highlights a four-pronged strategy to address the challenge of assisting, measuring, and influencing statewide implementation of meaningful Wellness Policies. Download Full Report [color]
	View all Reports »

Featured Resources

A Policy-Based School Intervention to Prevent Overweight and Obesity
Pediatrics, April 2008
A new article published in the April issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, describes research conducted to examine the effects of a School Nutrition Policy Initiative on the prevention of overweight and obesity among children in grades 4 through 6 over a 2-year period. The study was implemented in schools in Philadelphia that had =50% of children eligible for federally subsidized, free, or reduce-price meals. The results suggest that this school-based intervention can be effective in preventing the development of overweight among the participants.

The March state legislative report from the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA)

NEW Milk Matters Online Parent Resources Available
New materials are available through the Milk Matters calcium education campaign, sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These take-home materials have been designed to help parents understand the importance of calcium for bone health for teens and tweens, and are consistent with National Health Education Standards. Based on the existing teacher resources, these materials can be used at home to reinforce concepts children are learning in school. For more information on calcium and these new materials, please visit the Milk Matters Web site: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/milk. Or, contact the NICHD Information Resource Center at 1-800-370-2943 or E-mail: NICHDInformationResourceCenter@mail.nih.gov .

A CDC Review of School Laws and Policies Concerning Child and Adolescent Health
Using a Coordinated School Health Program model as a framework, the report gives educators and public health professionals new access to information on laws and policies important to the health of children and adolescents in schools. It is intended to help practitioners and policymakers in public health and education at the federal, state, and local levels enhance their knowledge of relevant laws and policies.
The full report was published in the February 2008 issue of the Journal of School Health and is available from the American School Health Association website: http://www.ashaweb.org/pdfs/josh782.pdf

Student Health and Academic Achievement web page
The CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) is pleased to announce the release of the Student Health and Academic Achievement web page. You can access the site at http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/health_and_academics/index.htm
The Student Health and Academic Achievement web page highlights the strong association between the academic success of America's youth and their health. Included is a link to the November 2007 JOSH article entitled Coordinated School Health Programs and Academic Achievement by Murray et al. The article examines evidence that school health program interventions that fit within the 8 components of the Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) model improve academic success among students.
Coming soon!
The Student Health and Academic Achievement web page will have:

• One-page fact sheets highlighting significant associations between health-risk behaviors and academic grades based on YRBS data
• PowerPoint slides containing graphs of all the significant associations among health-risk behavior variables and academic grades based on YRBS data.
• Presentation slides and scripts on health and academic achievement.

School Wellness in a Rural Community:
A superintendent's ownership for promoting the health and wellness of his students and staff in central Maine
The School Administrator, January 2008
American Association of School Administrators


Release of the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT)
CDC announces the initial release of the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) available at CDC's website: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth
The Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) can help school districts, schools, and others conduct a clear, complete, and consistent analysis of health education curricula based on the National Health Education Standards and CDC's Characteristics of Effective Health Education Curricula. The HECAT results can help schools select or develop appropriate and effective health education curricula and improve the delivery of health education. The HECAT can be customized to meet local community needs and conform to the curriculum requirements of the state or school district.

Body Mass Index Measurement in Schools
The CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health and Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity announce the release of Body Mass Index Measurement in Schools in the Journal of School Health. For full access to the article and executive summary, visit CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health web site: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/overweight/bmi/
School-based body mass index (BMI) measurement has attracted much attention across the nation from researchers, school officials, and legislators as a potential approach to address obesity among youth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention produced Body Mass Index Measurement in Schools to describe the purpose of school-based BMI surveillance and screening programs. The article examines current practices, identifies concerns surrounding programs, and outlines needs for future research. Guidance is provided on specific safeguards that need to be addressed before schools decide to collect BMI information.