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Healthy Staff for Healthy Schools was developed by Missouri Action for Healthy Kids and University of Missouri Extension, with special funding from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. The primary goal of Healthy Staff for Healthy Schools is to support school staff in implementing school wellness policies that impact their health and the health of their students. By making healthy decisions in their own lives, school staff are in a unique position to positively influence the lifestyle choices of their students. The role of wellness policies in schools was enhanced in 2004 when U.S. Congress passed the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. This act required that “all school districts with a federally-funded school meals program develop and implement wellness policies that address nutrition and physical activity by the start of the 2006-2007 school year.”1 These wellness policies promote a healthy school environment and work towards countering the increase in obesity and chronic diseases. To be most effective, school wellness policies need the backing of school staff, parents and the community. In fact, the CDC promotes the model of a coordinated school health program, in which school staff are considered a critical influence on the health of students – and therefore the health of the nation’s future. School staff can support their students and the wellness policies by making small healthy lifestyle choices throughout the day. For example, by eating a healthy breakfast and telling their students about what they ate, staff can encourage students to start their day with breakfast. Teachers can promote physical activity by integrating short activity breaks into their lessons, or by sharing with students how they have been active in the past few days. Staff can also contribute to improving their own health as well as that of their students by welcoming wellness programs specific for school staff, such as Healthy Staff for Healthy Schools. Wellness programs can be a vital tool in improving general well-being among staff by serving as an ally in dealing with stress and burnout and pursuing a healthy lifestyle. The Healthy Staff for Healthy Schools program
encourages school staff to support school wellness policies by making
healthy choices for themselves and their students. Thanks to Teresa VanDover, PhD, Principal of Lee
Expressive Arts School in Columbia, MO and her school staff for
advising the Healthy Staff for Healthy Schools development team about
resources of interest and use for school staff. Thanks also to the more
than 250 school nurses throughout Missouri for their review and
recommendations of program components. 1 National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity. Model
School Wellness Policies. Available at:
http://www.schoolwellnesspolicies.org/. Healthy Staff for Healthy Schools Development Team:
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