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 .
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.
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.
CDC's School Health Education Resources
CDC's Centers and Divisions have developed a variety of science-based and other instructional materials that can help schools enhance existing health education curriculum and instruction. CDC's School Health Education Resources (SHER) is a unique, user-friendly web tool that consolidates CDC's health education resources in one convenient location for Pre-K-12 classroom teachers, school nurses, counselors, curriculum directors and school administrators. Visit CDC's SHER online at http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/SHER
Healthy and Smart: Using Wellness to Boost Performance
This article from the National Association of Secondary School Principals gives a principal’s perspective on school wellness in the context of all the other priorities and pressures they are dealing with.
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/filelib/tmc/NASSP Article 12-07.pdf
National Association of State Boards of EducationIssue Brief: State Strategies to Support Local Wellness Policies
The goal of this brief is to provide education policymakers, such as state boards of education, with a broad overview of state-level strategies being implemented across the country around wellness policies. This document should provide states with ideas based on the work of other states around wellness policies so that they may better support local districts in effectively implementing policy.
Local Wellness Policies
Recess Rules: Why the undervalued playtime may be America's best investment for healthy kids and healthy schools
This report analyzes several sources of data to identify where opportunities for increasing children’s physical activity exist and to understand the factors that could contribute to or impair efforts to maximize those opportunities.
http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/sports4kidsrecessreport.pdf
Milk Matters Online Lesson Resources Available for Teachers
New online resources stressing the importance of calcium for bone health are now available for middle and high school teachers. The resources are available through the Milk Matters calcium education campaign, sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health, one of Action for Healthy Kids’ Partner organizations. The new resources, available at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/milk/teachers feature fun, hands-on classroom lessons created to teach young people about the importance of calcium for bone health.