Earlier Changes, Greater Results

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We all know that bad habits start young, but what many fail to realize is that the opposite can occur as well. The earlier that children learn good habits, the better their lives will be down the road. When children are exposed to healthy habits and a nutritional diet at a young age, it drastically reduces the issues of child obesity and premature cardiovascular diseases. This creates a solid foundation in which the child can continue to grow and live a life free of preventable health complications. In the elementary stage of life, regulation of a child’s nutritional intake and physical activity can be easily monitored and influenced through the school system.

https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/

In recent years, school districts around the country have been implementing programs to allow for easy access to nutritional foods and physical activities for children. A local example of this is the Wellness Policy, first implemented by the Beaverton School District in 2006.  The Beaverton School District had “recognized that childhood obesity has become an epidemic in Oregon as well as throughout the nation” and formed the Wellness Policy in order to further incorporate healthy physical activity and nutritional access throughout the schools within the district. Efforts made included requirements of “…at least 50 percent of the weekly physical educationclass time [to] be devoted to actual physical activity” and that “all food and beverage items …sold in a K-12 public school as part of the regular or extended school day shall meet minimum standards as set forth in state law”. The most significant enhancement to the district was the emphasis placed on nutritional health studies through the Beaverton School District Comprehensive Health Education curriculum.

https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/

What we have learned throughout the “Our Community, Our Health” course at Portland State University is that education and awareness are the first steps towards making healthy changes. These changes need to be made on an individual-level and at a nationwide level through policy changes in order to combat the many issues in our health system. By incorporating a health curriculum while implementing regulations to increase healthy activities and nutritional consumption, this school district, along with many others throughout the country, is making progress towards creating a healthier community by improving more than a few of the thirteen community health factors stated by the Prevention Institute’s  publication, released in 2006, called “The imperative of reducing health disparities through prevention: challenges,implications, and opportunities”. It is through these holistic, preventative steps that current health issues can be improved and ultimately resolved. 

http://www.preventioninstitute.org/