Six Cities Selected for Local Wellness Planning Technical Assistance

by Colleen McCarthy

NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute) has selected six cities to receive technical assistance in combating childhood obesity and promoting youth and community wellness through its City and School Leaders Collaborating on Local Wellness Policies initiative. The six cities include Charleston, S.C., Jackson, Tenn., La Mesa, Calif., Oakland, Calif., San Antonio and Savannah, Ga.

The one-year technical assistance initiative will provide municipal and school leaders with peer learning opportunities and consultation with national experts in the areas of local wellness policies, childhood obesity, healthy eating, active living and school health councils. Each site has convened a leadership team that includes senior-level staff from both the city and school district.

The YEF Institute has partnered with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) to launch this project with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Wellness Planning in Cities and Schools
In February 2007, NLC and AASA competitively selected 15 city-school teams to attend the School Wellness Planning Leadership Academy in Nashville, Tenn.  Most of the cities chosen to participate in the technical assistance project sent teams to this academy.

At the academy, teams discussed school wellness plans, which make the school day healthier for young people by addressing nutrition and physical activity. As of the 2006-07 school year, all school districts participating in the federal school lunch or breakfast programs are required to develop these plans.

Local wellness plans can improve nutrition and physical fitness initiatives in schools by expanding school wellness planning efforts to reach an entire community. For instance, in Somerville, Mass., Mayor Joseph Curtatone has partnered with Tufts University researchers through the “Shape Up” program to change the town’s nutrition environment.

In addition to offering nutritious meals in and eliminating junk foods from Somerville schools, the Shape Up program has helped local restaurants serve healthier food and smaller portion sizes. The city is involved in many additional efforts through the program, including repainting crosswalks, redeploying school crossing guards, City Hall health fairs and a community “fun-run” in which the mayor has participated. Researchers have demonstrated that the program is making an impact.  During the 2003-04 school year, Somerville students gained less weight than children in two nearby communities used as a control group.

A National Concern
Local wellness policies have recently attracted the attention of major foundations and Congress as childhood obesity becomes a national concern. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced last month that it would commit $500 million over the next five years toward combating childhood obesity.  In addition, on May 9, nutrition and physical fitness experts, as well as philanthropists and youth, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities of the Committee on Education and Labor on using school and local wellness plans to fight childhood obesity.

“One of the most innovative efforts is a partnership between the National League of Cities and the American Association of School Administrators,” said Nora Howley, interim executive director of Action for Healthy Kids, of the importance of city-school partnerships in combating childhood obesity. “These two organizations brought together city administrators and school leaders to look at what the cities could do to support schools, but also to look at how local wellness policies could be expanded to address the larger community in which children live.”

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the subcommittee, charged policymakers to supplement vital school wellness efforts with broader local changes.

“If we do not address the health and wellness environment for youth outside our schools, then there is a good chance we could lose the fight against childhood obesity,” said McCarthy.

Next Steps

In the coming year, staff from the YEF Institute and AASA will work closely with each of the selected project teams to create a more effective connection between city and school efforts to combat childhood obesity. Representatives from the six cities will have ongoing opportunities for peer exchange, and will participate in a cross-site meeting to share information and lessons learned.

Details: For more information about the NLC-AASA technical assistance project, contact Leon T. Andrews, Jr., program director for youth development at the YEF Institute, at (202) 626-3039 or andrews@nlc.org.