V.  Students                                                                                                   (formerly #5152)

 

            A.  Administrative Policies

 

                        6.  School Health Programs

 

                                    b.  Student Nutrition & Physical Activity

 

1.      Policy Statement

 

The Narragansett School District promotes healthy schools, by supporting wellness, good nutrition, and regular physical activity as part of the total learning environment.  The District supports a healthy environment where children learn and participate in positive dietary and lifestyle practices.  By facilitating learning through the support and promotion of good nutrition and physical activity, schools contribute to the basic health status of students.  Improved health contributes to optimal student performance potential.  The goal of this policy is to:

 

A.     Provide a comprehensive learning environment for developing and practicing lifelong wellness behaviors.

 

The entire school environment, not just the classroom, shall be aligned with healthy school goals to positively influence a student’s understanding, beliefs and habits as they relate to good nutrition and regular physical activity.  A healthy school environment should not be dependent on revenue from high-added fat, high-added sugar, and low nutrient foods to support school programs.

 

B.     Support and promote proper dietary habits contributing to students’ health status and academic performance.

 

All foods available on school grounds and at school-sponsored activities during the instructional day should meet or exceed the district nutrition standards (page 5).  Emphasis should be placed on foods that are nutrient dense per calorie.  Foods should be served with consideration toward variety, appeal, taste, safety, and packaging to ensure high quality nutritious meals.

 

C.     Provide more opportunities for students to engage in physical activity.

 

A quality physical education program is an essential component for all students to learn about and participate in physical activity.  Opportunities for physical activity should be provided daily for grades K through 12.  Physical activity should include regular instructional physical education, in accordance with The Rhode Island Physical Education Framework, March 2003, co-curricular activities, and recess.

 

D.    The Narragansett School District is committed to improving academic performance in high-risk groups.

 

Educators, administrators, parents, health practitioners and communities must consider the critical role student health plays in academic stamina and performance and adapt the school environment to ensure students’ basic nourishment and physical activity needs are met.  Research highlighting the positive relationship between good nutrition, physical activity, and the capacity of students to develop and learn should be highlighted to ensure widespread understanding of the benefits to school environments where nutritious foods are provided and where students have an opportunity for physical activity.

 

E.     Establish and maintain a district-wide Health & Safety Committee for the purpose of:

·        Establishing and maintaining a Nutrition & Physical Activity Subcommittee whose membership should reflect a cross-representation of the school community.

·        Developing guidance to explicate this policy.

·        Monitoring the implementation of this policy.

·        Evaluating policy effectiveness.

·        Serving as a resource to school sites (e.g. providing lists of healthy incentives, suggested snack lists, etc.).

·        Revising policy as necessary.

 

Responsibilities of the Nutrition & Physical Activity Subcommittee may include, but not be limited to, oversight of:

 

·        District nutrition and physical activity standards.

·        Nutrition and physical activity in the overall curriculum.

·        Staff professional development that includes nutrition and physical activity issues.

·        Contracts with outside vendors that encourage healthful eating and reduction of school/district dependence on profits from foods of minimal nutritional value.

·        Consistent healthful choices among all school venues that involve the sale of food or beverages.

 

The Nutrition & Physical Activity Subcommittee will prepare and submit an Annual Report by June 30 of each year to district administrators, which includes, but may not be limited to, the following information:

 

ü      Monthly menus and meal counts.

ü      A list of the accomplishments, activities and notable events of the subcommittee.

 

Student Nutrition

 

The School Breakfast/Lunch Programs:

·        The full breakfast and lunch school meal programs will continue to follow the USDA Requirements for Federal School Meals Programs.

·        The School Food Service Program provider will follow the District’s Nutrition Standards when determining the items in a la carte and “competitive foods” sales.

·        The Food Service Director will work closely with the Nutrition & Physical Activity Subcommittee.

 

Cafeteria Environment:

·        A cafeteria environment should provide students with a relaxed, enjoyable climate.

·        It is encouraged that the cafeteria environment be a place where students have:

ü      Adequate space to eat, with clean and pleasant surroundings.

ü      Adequate time to eat meals (The American School Food Service Association recommends at least 20 minutes for lunch from the time students are seated with their food).

ü      Convenient access to hand-washing or hand-sanitizing facilities that are appropriately and adequately maintained.

 

Fundraising:

·        All fundraising projects are encouraged to follow the District Nutrition Standards.

·        All fundraising projects for sale and consumption prior to and during the instructional day will follow the District’s Nutrition Standards when determining the items being sold.

·        All fundraising projects for sale and consumption outside of the instructional day are encouraged to provide healthy food choices as outlined on page 5 of this policy.

 

Teacher/Administrator-to-Student Incentive:

The use of food items as part of a student incentive program is strongly discouraged.  Should teachers/administrators feel compelled to utilize food items as an incentive, they are required to adhere to the District Nutrition Standards.

 

Student Nutrition Education:

 

The Narragansett School District has a comprehensive curriculum approach to nutrition from Kindergarten through 12th grade.  Starting in September 2005, all K-12 instructional staff will be encouraged to integrate nutritional themes from the Rhode Island Department of Education Health Education Framework and/or the Rhode Island Family & Consumer Science Framework into lessons when appropriate.  The health benefits of good nutrition should be emphasized.  These nutritional themes include, but are not limited to:

 

Healthy heart choices

Sources & variety of foods                                           Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Diet and disease                                                           Understanding calories

Healthy snacks                                                 Healthy breakfast

Healthy diet                                                                  Food labels

Major nutrients                                                 Multicultural influences

Serving sizes                                                                 Proper Food Safety/Sanitation

Identify and limit food of low nutrient density

 

The district nutrition policy reinforces nutrition education to help students practice these themes in a supportive school environment.

 

Parent/Guardian Nutrition Education:

 

·        Nutrition education should be provided to parents/guardians beginning at the elementary level.  The goal is to continue to educate parents/guardians throughout middle and high school levels.

·        Nutrition education may be in the form of handouts, postings on the school websites, articles and information provided in district or school newsletters, presentations that focus on nutritional value and healthy lifestyles, and through any other appropriate means available for reaching parents/guardians.

 

Staff Nutrition & Physical Activity Education:

 

With the purpose of:

·        Encouraging all school staff to improve their own personal health and wellness

·        Improving staff morale

·        Creating positive role modeling

·        Building the commitment of staff to promote the health of students

·        Building the commitment of staff to help improve the school nutrition and physical activity environment

·        Proper food safety/sanitation

 

Nutrition and physical activity education opportunities should be provided to all school staff at the elementary, middle and high school levels.  These educational opportunities may include, but not be limited to, the distribution of educational and informational materials and the arrangement of presentations and workshops that focus on nutritional value and healthy lifestyles, health assessments, fitness activities, and other appropriate nutrition and physical activity-related topics.

 

 

District Nutrition Standards

 

Nutrition Standards Intent/Rationale:

 

The Narragansett School District strongly encourages the sale or distribution of nutrient dense foods for all school functions and activities.  Nutrient dense foods are those foods that provide students with calories rich in the nutrient content needed to be healthy.  In an effort to support the consumption of nutrient dense foods in the school setting, the district has adopted the following nutrition standards governing the sale of food, beverages, and candy on school grounds.  Schools are encouraged to study these standards and develop building policy using the following District Nutrition Standards as minimal guidelines.

 

Food:

·        Encourage the consumption of nutrient dense foods, i.e. WHOLE GRAINS, FRESH FRUITS, and VEGETABLES.

·        Any given food item for sale prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day, will have no more than 30% of its total calories derived from fat.

·        Any given food item for sale prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day, will have no more than 10% of its total calories derived from saturated fat.

·        Nuts and seeds with minimal added fat in processing (no more than 3 grams of added fat per 1.75 ounce or less package size) are exempt from these standards because they are nutrient dense and contain high levels of monounsaturated fat.

·        It is recognized that there may be rare special occasions when the school principal may allow a school group to deviate from these Standards, but those special occasions should be noted in the annual Nutrition and Physical Activity Report.

 

Beverages:

·        ONLY Milk, Water, beverages containing 100% fruit juices, and electrolyte replacement beverages (sport drinks) with no artificial sweeteners may be sold on school grounds both prior to and throughout the instructional day.  This standard will be phased-in over the next two school years in the following way:

 

ü      2005-2007 School Years:  ONLY Milk Water, beverages containing 100% fruit juices, and electrolyte replacement beverages with no added artificial sweeteners may be sold or distributed on school grounds both prior to and during the instructional day in the district’s schools, except in an area where students are not permitted access.

 

Candy:

·        The sale of candy is strongly discouraged on school grounds at all times.

·        Candy is defined as any processed food item where:

1.                  sugar (including brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, fructose, glucose (dextrose), high fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, table sugar (sucrose)) syrup is listed as one of the first two ingredients

2.                  AND sugar is more than 25% of the item by weight.

 

District Physical Activity Goal:

Definitions  for the purposes of this policy:

 

Physical activity is any leisure or non-leisure movement of the body that expends energy; such as exercise, sports, dance, mobility training or physical therapy, brisk walking, swimming or other body movements that result in an increased heart rate.

 

Adapted physical activities are those designed for a student whose special needs or other health conditions require alternative safe and appropriate physical activities that meet their needs.

 

The Narragansett School District shall provide physical activity and physical education opportunities, aligned with the Rhode Island Physical Education Framework, that provide students with the knowledge and skills to lead a physically active lifestyle.

 

The Narragansett School District shall utilize the following Implementation Strategies:

1.            Physical education classes and physical activity opportunities will be available for all students.

2.            Provide adapted physical activities designed for students with special needs or other health conditions that require alternative safe and appropriate physical activities that meet their needs.

3.            Physical activity opportunities should be offered daily before, during, and after school.

4.            Provide adequate, appropriate and safe facilities and recreational areas for physical activities.

5.            Develop student understanding of all procedures and information regarding minimizing risks associated with physical activity and physical education.

6.            Collaboration with qualified professional(s) and organizations to contribute to opportunities for physical activities.  As recommended by the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), school leaders of physical activity and physical education should guide students through a process that will enable them to achieve and maintain a high level of personal fitness through the following:

·        Expose students to a wide variety of physical activities.

·        Teach physical skills to help maintain a lifetime of health and fitness.

·        Encourage self-monitoring so students can see how active they are and set their own goals.

·        Individualize intensity of activities.

·        Focus feedback on process of doing your best rather than on product.

·        Be active role models.

7.            Opportunities and resources for staff to engage in physical activity.

8.            Introduce developmentally appropriate components of a health-related fitness assessment, (e.g. FitnessGram, Physical Best or President’s Council) to the students at an early age to prepare them for future assessments.

9.            Assist students in interpreting their personal attainments and comparing themselves to national physical activity recommendations.

 

 

            The 2004 NASPE Guidelines recommend:

ü      Children should accumulate at least 60 minutes, and up to several hours, of age appropriate physical activity on all, or most days of the week.

ü      Children should participate in several bouts of physical activity lasting 15 minutes or more each day.

ü      Children should participate each day in a variety of age-appropriate physical activities designed to achieve optimal health, wellness, fitness and performance benefits.

ü      Extended periods (periods of two hours or more) of inactivity are discouraged for children, especially during the daytime hours.

10.       Beginning in Middle School and continuing through High School, administer a health-related fitness assessment (e.g., FitnessGram, Physical Best or President’s Council) to students.  Students should receive results and use this as a baseline in understanding their own level of fitness and creating fitness plans.

11.       Physical education classes should be sequential, building from year to year, and content should include movement, personal fitness, and personal and social responsibility.  Students should be able to demonstrate competency through application of knowledge, skill, and practice.

 

 

First Reading:   June 8, 2005                                                         Narragansett School System

Adopted:          July 20, 2005                                                          Narragansett, Rhode Island