Data Collection:
This includes getting health information from the students such as blood pressure,
BMI, 1 mile walk/run times, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
This information
is needed to find out what areas are dealing with specific problems which will enable
us to address these issues with evidence based programs that will meet their needs.
Currently we do not have health data on children in Hamilton County. Once we have
this information, there will be better opportunities to apply for grants which will
create more opportunities to support schools and the community to enhance the health
of our students.
Environmental Changes:
Schools need to have an environment that supports health physically, socially, and
mentally. This includes factors such as temperature, noise, lighting, safety, and
aesthetic surroundings.
Examples of environmental changes include putting up health
promoting posters throughout the school, revamping cafeterias to include colorful
murals of the food pyramid, or building a walking track on the school property.
Policy Changes:
Policy changes are vital for long term success for health promotion in schools.
An example of a policy change in CSH would be for teachers to incorporate health
education within their normal subject.
One important new policy change is the 90
minutes of Physical Activity Law which states that every student in TN grades K-12
must get 90 minutes of physical activity per week during school hours.
Organize
Programs:
Our community is fortunate to have a lot of good people, resources, and
companies who want to help in our endeavor to change the health of our children.
Many of these programs want to get into the schools to promote different aspects
of health to the children. Coordinated School Health has the responsibility to understand
what each program does and find out if it is evidence based and successful. We can
match the programs with appropriate schools that would benefit from them.
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