College of Education Theses & Dissertations

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Characteristics of Effective Implementation of School Wellness Policies
(University of Oregon, 2012) Ehrlich, Virginia; Ehrlich, Virginia; Conley, David
The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires that most public school districts implement student wellness efforts that promote physical activity and nutrition. Several studies have found that there were no significant changes to schools' nutrition and physical activity environments as a result of previous district wellness policy efforts, making the identification of strategies that will help facilitate actual health-promoting policy and program changes in schools a timely and important goal. This study investigates effective strategies for improving the implementation of school wellness policies with the goal of understanding factors that predict effective and quality policy implementation more clearly. Specifically, this study explores the results of a consultative technical assistance model aimed at implementing a school-based obesity prevention program as a mechanism for school wellness policy implementation in three cohorts over a 4-year period. Analyses suggest that schools in Urban District 1 and Urban District 2 made significantly more progress in implementing health-promoting policy and program changes than did the national schools cohort.