Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

#WellnessWins Empowers School Districts, Community Members to Support Strong Wellness Policies

  • 06/01/17

In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a final rule to strengthen guidelines for school wellness policies with a compliance deadline of June 30, 2017. Nationwide, many districts are already making significant progress to update and strengthen their policies, enabling them to implement healthier nutrition, physical activity, and health and physical education practices. School wellness policies are the cornerstone of school-related health initiatives, providing both a guide and an evaluation tool for schools to benchmark their wellness progress.

To highlight these existing school wellness “wins” and to inspire other districts to take action, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Heart Association’s Voices for Healthy Kids initiative have launched a new digital campaign, #WellnessWins.

School leaders, community members and parents can visit WellnessWins.org to download resources, read success stories, and learn how they can support and advance school wellness policies.

Campaign Details:

WHAT: The #WellnessWins campaign celebrates district wellness success and inspires everyone to create healthier school environments, grounded in strong wellness policies.

WHERE: Campaign resources, including success stories, social media messages, and resources to support districts and community members in strengthening wellness policies, are available at WellnessWins.org

WHY: #WellnessWins aims to support school districts in implementing stronger wellness policies that meet the new U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines by June 30.

WHO: #WellnessWins is co-presented by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and American Heart Association’s Voices for Healthy Kids initiative.

The campaign is supported by over 20 organizations who will help to shine a spotlight on wellness wins across the country. Supporters include: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Action for Healthy Kids, Active Living Research,  Afterschool Alliance, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network, American School Health Association, Center for Science in the Public Interest, ChildObesity 180, Food, Nutrition and Policy Consultants, FoodCorps, Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing, Healthy Eating Research, Initiative for Healthy Schools, Kaiser Permanente Thriving Schools, Mission: Readiness, MomsRising, NAACP, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Farm to School Network, Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research Evaluation Network, Physical Activity Policy Research Network, Nutrition Policy Institute, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, School Meals That Rock, SHAPE America, Society for Nutrition, Education and Behavior, SPARK, and UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

#WellnessWins was also supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 1 NU1ADP003091-01, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Featured

  • From Approval to Opening: Inside Travis Unified School District’s Fast Tracked Campus Expansion

    The Travis Unified School District (TUSD) in northern California includes several elementary and high schools serving over 5,400 students. In 2024, the TUSD Board approved the addition of sixth grade to the Golden West Middle School campus for the 2025–26 school year, setting in motion an accelerated effort to bring new facilities online in less than a year.

  • Myrtle Grove Elementary

    Phased Construction Keeps Students on Campus During Rebuild

    When Escambia County School District needed to replace most of Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., it had three distinct challenges: honor the school's legacy in the community, bring state-of-the-art learning environments to the county, and be seamlessly built on the same site as the active school campus.

  • Indiana University Launches Capital Campus in D.C.

    Indiana University recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new IU Capital Campus in Washington, D.C., according to university news. The eight-story facility will provide a central hub for the university’s existing programs and business operations based in D.C., uniting them under one roof and providing the opportunity to expand.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.