At a glance
- Schools play a critical role in helping children and adolescents eat healthy and get regular physical activity.
- CDC provides tools for schools to self-assess school health policies and practices.
- These assessments help schools identify their policies' strengths and weaknesses and create an effective plan for the future.
Improving school health
Schools can provide learning opportunities to reinforce healthy behaviors. Some options include implementing wellness policies and practices, and using an effective health education curriculum.
A CDC collection of peer-reviewed articles of school physical activity and nutrition intervention.
Education agencies participating in federal Child Nutrition Programs must develop a wellness policy.
Schools with an employee wellness program also help support students’ health and academic success.
School Health Guidelines is CDC research related to healthy eating and physical activity in schools.
Assessing school health
Schools can benefit from self-assessments that: identify strengths and weaknesses, and offer insights to create action plans for improving student health.
The Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) is a free, online assessment tool to help scho...
PECAT is a self-analysis tool for schools to assess physical education curricula.
CDC's School Health Index helps schools identify strengths and weaknesses of health and safety polic...
WPAT examines the relationship between written wellness policies and school health practices.