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2006 School Health Policies and Program Study (SHPPS) Results Now Available

SHPPS is a national survey about school health policies and practices at the state, district, school and classroom levels conducted every six years since 1994. The study addresses specific health topics, including alcohol- or other drug-use prevention; asthma; crisis preparedness, response, and recovery; foods and beverages sold outside of the school meals programs; food safety; HIV prevention; injury prevention and safety; nutrition; physical activity; physical education; physical school environment; pregnancy prevention; STD prevention; suicide prevention; tobacco-use prevention; and violence prevention.

The 2006 study, released in October, indicated that there has been a great many improvements in U.S. schools' policies and programs that promote the health and safety of students. Improvements were particularly evident in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco use. For example, the survey indicated that states prohibiting schools from offering junk foods in vending machines increased from 8% in 2000 to 32% in 2006.

Among the key findings from the 2006 survey about health education were these:

• State requirements to teach about human sexuality in middle school increased from 46.0% in 2000 to 58.8% in 2006, while requirements to teach pregnancy prevention in middle school increased from 45.1% to 58.0%. For high schools, the increase was from 46.9% to 60.8% for human sexuality and from 45.1% to 58.0% for pregnancy prevention.
• District requirements that injury prevention and safety be taught increased from 66.2% to 77.4% among elementary schools and from 66.7% to 80.3% for middle schools.
• Health education teachers' opportunities for staff development on nutrition and dietary behavior during the two years preceding the study increased from 43.3% in 2000 to 65.3% in 2006.
• Time spent teaching about violence prevention declined from a median of 4.9 hours in 2000 to 2.6 in 2006 among elementary schools and from 4.1 to 2.5 among high schools.

A comprehensive report on the study was published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of School Health. To learn more about progress in achieving coordinated school health programs nationally, check out the CDC SHPPS web site at http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/shpps/index.htm. The web site contains a link to a free copy of the Journal of School Health issue.

2007 School Nutrition Association Trends Report Released

The School Nutrition Association (SNA)'s 2007 Trends Report, released in October 2007 during National School Lunch Week, found that the most commonly reported school food trend this year is increased availability of whole grain products. The Report is based on a survey of 200 school districts across the nation.

The study found that other policies in place among a majority of districts included

• Increasing the availability of healthier beverages in vending machine (81%)
• Reducing/limiting trans fat content (74%)
• Limiting fat content of a la carte/vending items (73%)
• Increasing the availability of fresh fruits/vegetables on a la carte lines or vending machines (69%).

Eighty-five percent of school districts reported that costs for food, labor and transportation are increasing and almost two-thirds (63.5%) reported that the National School Lunch Program reimbursement was not sufficient to cover their costs. The Report proposes that additional funding is needed for school nutrition programs to offer more nutrient-dense meals.

Emerging Answers 2007 Identifies Effective Sex Education Programs

Sex education programs that support both abstinence and the use of contraception for sexually active teens have proven effective in delaying first intercourse, improving contraceptive use, and preventing pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, among teens. These results appear in Emerging Answers 2007: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases by Douglas Kirby, Ph.D., a new report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The report's findings are based on a review of 115 program evaluations.

The study also found that no program that discussed abstinence and contraception hastened the initiation of sex or increased the frequency of sexual activity among teens. In addition, the study found that no strong evidence exists that programs that stress abstinence alone delay the initiation of sex, hasten the return to abstinence or reduce the number of sexual partners.

Emerging Answers 2007, available from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/EA2007 also identifies fifteen programs that show strong evidence of success. Of these, seven are sex education programs, two are community service learning programs, two are multi-component programs, two involve clinicians, and one is a teen-parent program.