In North Carolina, one out of every three children is overweight or obese. The Zone Health program combats childhood obesity by helping schools promote good nutrition and physical activity before, during, and after the school day. Our program helps schools improve their nutrition and physical activity environments to give students, faculty, and staff more opportunities to eat healthy food, be physically active, and improve their overall health. The Zone Health program has been recognized by the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction as a valuable resource to help establish healthy environments in schools.
With a generous grant from GlaxsoSmithKline Community Partnerships, Zone Health has been implemented in school districts across NC. Trained schools know how to:
- Form a diverse school wellness team,
- Assess their school's wellness environment,
- Identify wellness areas in need of improvement,
- Initiate an action plan using low-cost resources and equipment,
- Write policies that support healthy weight, and
- Monitor and evaluate their success over time.
Zone Health staff strive to collaborate and partner with other organizations in North Carolina who work with schools on childhood obesity prevention. Today, the Zone Health team and NC Prevention Partners are supported by the NC State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction as a valuable program to help establish healthy environments, policies, and programs at schools, as outlined in the following resolution.
At present, 25 teams from schools and school districts across the state have been trained to use Zone Health, bringing school wellness and obesity prevention initiatives to over 76,000 students, faculty, and staff across North Carolina. Trained Zone Health teams have most commonly addressed increasing physical activity and staff wellness in action plans for improvement. To find out how your school can get involved, contact Ingrid Morris.
Sponsor - GlaxoSmithKline Community Partnerships:
http://www.gsk.com/community/