Resources for Your Community

• Physical Activity
• Healthy Eating

Physical Activity

Partnership building resources

• School Health Advisory Councils on the NC Healthy Schools website.
• NC Healthy School's Coordinated School Health Program Assessment: allows you to assess your school's health program, based on eight component areas; valuable tips for improvement are provided.
• NC Education Directory contains contact information for every public, federal, charter, and school system in the state.

Community Assessment Resources

• Walkability checklist from International Walk to School.
• NC School Report Cards: search for school websites by county or city. Provides contact information for school leaders and systems, which can be vital to the assessment process.
• Walking Suitability Assessment Form from Eat Smart Move More NC.
• Biking Suitability Assessment Form from Eat Smart Move More NC.
• Community Assessment Tools from Healthy Carolinians community assessment guide book. Pages 17-18 outline the entire planning process in easy-to-follow steps.
• National Park Service Community Toolbox: explains different types of surveys and their most effective uses.
• School Health Index from CDC: self-assessment and planning tool enables schools to identify the strengths and weaknesses of health promotion policies and programs; assists schools in developing an action plan for improving the school environment.

School-wide campaign resources

• Communications and Social Marketing resources from Active Living by Design (recommended links: "Community Action Guide" and "Social Marketing Guide").
• The VERB campaign was developed by the CDC, and uses state-of-the-art communications and promotions strategies to encourage physical activity among children ages 9 – 13 (the "tween" age group). Also see the VERBnow website, designed to give children ideas and activities for being physically active.
• Campaign and program ideas from the Centers for Disease Control.
• Hold an annual bicycle rodeo.

"Walk to School" Resources

• NC Walks to School Module from Eat Smart Move More NC.
• How to develop "walk to school day/week," from International Walk to School.
• Traffic calming programs can help overcome traffic challenges around schools. Some programs include:
  • Street Reclaiming : Calm traffic in your street with everyday activities using the 'intrigue' and 'uncertainty' factors.
  • Walking School Bus: Walking Bus drivers walk a set route and children join the procession as they go. Find resources at lesstraffic.com and Walking School Bus.

Physical Activity Programs in schools

• Fit Kids NC – Resources for teachers who want to incorporate physical activity into their lesson plans and standard course of study
• PE Central – Links physical education teachers with ideas for activities, products, and PE updates.
• Energizers from ECU's Activity Promotion Laboratory: set of classroom-based physical activities that take about 10 minutes each. Teachers can use these activities to incorporate physical activity into their daily curriculum.
• North Carolina School Resources from Eat Smart Move More NC.
• Active Steps Youth Program: Be Active NC program teaches youth about the importance of physical activity, how to set goals, and to have fun while being active.

Resources for Physical Activity Policies in Schools

• Action for Healthy Kids: A non-profit formed to address the epidemic of overweight, undernourished, and sedentary youth by focusing on changes at schools.
• Healthy Active Children Policy passed by the NC State Board of Education.
• NC Alliance for Athletics, Healthy, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance: provides information on advocacy, professional development, physical education, recreation and more for educators, professional, and students.

Expanding access to active travel near schools

• Active Living by Design's "Recommended Tools" – scroll down on each webpage to find topics and resources of interest, including Parks, Trails and Greenways, Land Use, and Transportation.
• Bike Lane Design Guide from the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center: 48 page guide to signing, striping and marking bike lanes on a city street.

Healthy Eating

School Healthy Eating assessment resources

• CDC School Health Index: provides schools with a tool to assess their policies and programs in relation to the CDC's recommended standards for school health. Helps schools: (1) identify strengths and weaknesses; (2) prioritize actions for improvement; and (3) develop a team approach to implementing guidelines. You must create a team name and password to download the assessment. There is no cost to you.
• Online Self-Assessment Tool from School Nutrition Association: "Keys to Excellence in School Food and Nutrition Programs" helps identify strong points and areas needing improvement.
• NC Healthy School's Coordinated School Health Program Assessment: allows you to assess your school's health program, based on eight component areas; valuable tips for improvement are provided.

School or district-wide healthy eating campaign resources

• "Changing the Scene: Improving the School Nutrition Environment": USDA toolkit contains information on nutrition education and marketing issues to students and the public.
• Action for Healthy Schools: resource page allows you to choose from a variety of topics in a dropdown menu to obtain related resources, including information on advertising/marketing in schools.
• NC Healthy Schools is a working to create an infrastructure between education and health to enable schools and communities to create a Coordinated School Health Program.

Nutrition education program resources

• CDC's Nutrition Education Recommendations: "Guidelines for School Health Programs to Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating" from the CDC provides seven recommendations and strategies for implementing successful healthy eating policies and programs in schools. Recommendations 2-4 (pp 15-20), highlight strategies for implementing nutrition education programs in schools.
• Making it Happen! School Nutrition Success Stories (a joint program of the USDA and the Dept. of Health and Human Resources) shares stories from 32 schools/school districts who have made innovative changes to improve nutirtion qualities of all food and beverages offered on school campuses. Includes a variety of ideas and materials that schools can use in their efforts.
• Be Active Kids: provides kids, parents, and caregivers information and resources about nutrition, including nutrition programs for children ages 4-5.

School-based health food choices - policy resources

• Eat Smart School Standards: A call to action and a tool that helps schools implement healthy eating standards in cafeterias
• USDA Local Wellness Policy: Congress passed a law requiring each local educational agency participating in USDA's school meals programs to establish a local wellness policy by the beginning of School Year 2006-2007. This website serves as a clearinghouse of information on the components that should be considered when establishing a school wellness policy. Includes examples of policies already developed by schools and state agencies.
• Recommended Standards for Foods Available in Schools – from Eat Smart Move More. Addresses foods and beverages found in traditional cafeteria meals as well as a la carte items, vending machines drinks and snacks, and foods and beverages served in after school programs and at school functions. Three state agencies--the North Carolina Division of Public Health, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service--collaborated to create this document. Local education agencies are encouraged to use the Eat Smart School Standards to craft food policies that will contribute to students' nutritional well-being and health.
• USDA's Team Nutrition's "Resources for Educators": multiple links and resources for teachers and after-school providers that contain nutrition curriculum ideas and downloadable activity materials.

Expanding access to healthy eating in schools

• Nutrition SENSE Toolkit: A guide to help student stores provide healthy snacks and beverages.
• Changing the Scene: Improving the School Nutrition Environment: A guide from the USDA.
• Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthy Schools Program: resources and tools for helping schools provide a good nutrition environment.
• Case Study – Stanly County: "A trip through the lunch line at Stanly County Elementary School is much different now than it was a few years ago..." from Eat Smart Move More NC.