Wellness Policy and Health Schools

Every public school has a Wellness Policy that falls under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. To read DeKalb County's, go to the eBoard policy page and it is policy EEE.

The USDA recently released proposed rules for local school wellness policies. The proposed regulations will strengthen implementation, improve transparency, and ensure better participation from community members on local school wellness committees.  Also, the rule requires for the first time that schools establish policies to limit marketing of unhealthy food and beverages during the school day.

The proposed rules were open for public comment until April 28, 2014. Below is my comment.

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I am writing to comment on the proposed rule, Local School Wellness Policy Implementation Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (RIN 0584-AE25). I applaud the work done towards the goal of healthy students in schools. The USDA has acted in the lead role of developing a Local School Wellness Policy, and appears to have failed to consider variables other than diet and physical activity in the process.

The current proposed rule needs to be expanded to include recommendations from the EPA's Healthy Schools program (1) and guidelines for hygienic restrooms. Unhealthy school environments can affect children’s health, attendance, concentration, and performance.

I was a Health Coach for a very large, nation-wide health insurance provider. My job was to help families of children with asthma and allergies who were chronically ill, or suffered repeated acute illnesses, understand the disease process and triggers. Based on the enrollment numbers from that program it can be conservatively estimated there are between 3,000,000 and 5,000,000 students in the United States whose health is negatively affected by an unhealthy school environment.

The majority of the school buildings in the United States are over 25 years old and have the potential to be unhealthy. RIN 0584-AE25 is the perfect vehicle to address the issues of indoor air quality (IAQ), chemical management, safe drinking water, and hygienic restrooms.

Please continue to show leadership and expand the Local School Wellness Policy rules to include the four topics I listed.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Kirk Lunde

Tucker, GA

(1) http://www.epa.gov/schools/programs.html

This blog represents only my opinions and does not represent any other person or group. Specifically, this comment was not submitted on behalf of the DeKalb County Councils of PTAs.

**The second paragraph was copied and pasted from an email. I did not write it.**