Programs
Healthy Lifestyles
Texas PTA Healthy Lifestyles
Texas Healthy Lifestyles Consultant Carey Dabney
Texas Healthy Lifestyles Consultant Carey Dabney was awarded the John P. McGovern Award for outstanding contributions to school health presented by the Texas School Health Association. Congratulations Carey!
Why Healthy Lifestyles?
- Parents want to be certain they are doing the right things to ensure their children grow into healthy, happy adults.
- Schools want to be certain they are doing the right things to ensure their students stay in school and graduate as educated, productive adults.
Fact: Properly nourished children perform better in school-both academically and behaviorally.
Fact: Physical activity strengthens children’s bodies, minds, and self-esteem.
Fact: Healthy habits are best formed during childhood.
The following information and resources can help you work with parents, students, teachers and school administrators to support Healthy Lifestyles at Home and School.
Texas Round-Up
Is your PTA looking for a way to enhance your family and community involvement in your health programs?
FitKids can help! Texas Round-Up’s FitKids program is designed to educate children on the benefits of healthy living through activities, competitions, and an interactive web tool which can be used in conjunction with existing health programs. All FitKids tools and activities can be used in school and at home with the entire family.
Healthy Lifestyles 2009 Article Series
What PTAs Can Do
- Designate a Healthy Lifestyles Chairman on your PTA board
Become Familiar with:
- PTA Positions and Resolutions
Your school district/campus mission statements, goals, health and wellness policy, parent involvement and community relations policy
- Each district will have their own specific information
School health law and policy
- TX Public School Nutrition Policy and SquareMeals
- Local Wellness Policy
- School Health Advisory Council
- TEA - Curriculum - Health & PE
- Coordinated School Health Program
- Accountability mandates for school health law
- New School Health Requirements for 2009-2010 School Year
- Texas School Health Advisory Comittee
Form a campus PTA Healthy Lifestyles Committee
- Download the PTA Healthy Lifestyles at Home and School Notebook
- Utilize PTA Healthy Lifestyles resources and PTA Health and Wellness resources
- Complete a PTA Plan of Work
- Record work in a PTA Healthy Lifestyles Committee Procedure Book
Raise awareness and get buy-in for Healthy Lifestyles
- Show Food and Fitness Matter: Raising Healthy Active Kids (English-Spanish) to your school and community
- Download Companion Leader’s Guide for parent handouts
- Contact Texas PTA for Food and Fitness Matter Program Resource in Spanish and English
Identify existing wellness efforts at your school using:
Create a monthly Healthy Lifestyles message
- Put health tips on your homepage, in newsletters, and on bulletin boards
- Tips for a Happy and Healthy School Year (English)
- Tips for a Happy and Healthy School Year (Spanish)
- Healthy Habits for Healthy Hearts (English and Spanish)
- Healthy Kids are Happy Kids November is PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month
- WIN - Publication - Helping Your Child (English)
- WIN - Publication - Helping Your Child (Spanish)
- Tips for a Happy and Healthy School Year (English)
- Put health tips on your homepage, in newsletters, and on bulletin boards
Support a healthy school environment
- Healthy School Snacks
- Promote Healthy Celebrations (English)
- Healthy Celebrations (Spanish)
- Promote Alternatives to Food as Reward (English)
- Alternatives to Food as Reward (Spanish)
- Promote Healthy Fundraising (English)
- Promote Healthy Fundraising (Spanish)
- UIL Booster Club Guidelines web version Club Finances: Fundraising
- Healthy School Snacks
Host a Healthy Lifestyles Event
- PTA Healthy Lifestyles Awards | PTA
- Healthy Lifestyles Event Ideas
- How to Get People Involved
- Potential Event Partners
- Examples of budget and Healthy Lifestyles Award proposals
- Distribute copies of the PTA Healthy Lifestyles Parent’s Guide (English)
- PTA Healthy Lifestyles Parent’s Guide (Spanish)
- Five-step process for coordinating a Healthy Lifestyles event
- Things to think about before, during and after your Healthy Lifestyles event
- 2007 Healthy Lifestyles Award Winners photo gallery
- Contact health-related Texas organizations and health-related National Organizations and Agencies and don’t forget to reach out to your own city, county and community resources interested in children’s health
- PTA Healthy Lifestyles Awards | PTA
Collaborate with school partners
- Represent PTA Healthy Lifestyles and Parental Involvement on school committees
- Be familiar with National Standards for Family-School Partnerships | PTA
- At the elementary and middle school level, volunteer to represent the parental involvement component of your school’s Coordinated School Health Program
- At the district level, find out if you can join the School Health Advisory Council
- If your school participates in the Federal Child Nutrition Program, find out if you can help with the design and oversight of your Local Wellness Policy (Texas has a Wellness Policy Template developed by the Texas Association of School Boards)
Work with your School Food Service to support healthy, nutritious meals
Work with your Physical Education and Classroom Teachers to support state mandates
- Represent PTA Healthy Lifestyles and Parental Involvement on school committees
- Download and read Parents are the Power! Toolkit for Creating Change (English)
- Parents are the Power! Toolkit for Creating Change (Spanish)
- Join Action for Healthy Kids and become part of a state and national network promoting Healthy Lifestyles
- Apply for Healthy Lifestyle Health Awards and Grants
- Check out Healthy Lifestyles Success Stories and Share Your Own
- Stay positive. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else.
- Most importantly, make sure all stakeholders are informed about what you are doing and are involved in helping you achieve your health and wellness goals. By helping others understand the important link between children’s health and academic achievement, your PTA will contribute to the overall success of every child, every family, every teacher, and every principal in your school community.
More Information
- National PTA
- Parent and Family Involvement
- Childhood Obesity and Diabetes
- Health and Academic Achievement
- Health and Wellness…Healthy Families
- School Health Advisory Councils (SHAC)
- Coordinated School Health Programs
- School Surveys and Assessment Tools
- Wellness Policies and Good Nutrition
- Competitive Foods in Schools and Healthy Alternatives
- Physical Education/Activity/Recess
- Programs for Students
- Teacher Curriculum-Handouts for Students/Parents
- School Health Law and Policy
- Texas Organizations and Agencies
- National Organizations and Agencies
- Information for PTA Chair and School Administrators
- Resources from Maternal and Child Health Library
- Health Awards and Grants
National PTA
- Healthy Lifestyles : Local Advocacy Questions
- PTA Evaluating Your School’s Health
- PTA Action Plan: Healthy Kids = Successful Students
- Program Planner “Healthy Lifestyles”
- PTA National Strategic Plan 2007-2010
- PTA Grassroots Advocacy Toolkit
- PTA Positions | PTA
Parent and Family Involvement
Childhood Obesity
- Young Lives At Risk: Our Overweight Children (washingtonpost.com)
- How Obesity Harms a Child’s Body
- Buy Better Groceries
- Government Inaction
- You Are Where You Live
- Part Slimming Down Schools—And Parents
- The Search for Solutions
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Obesity Trend Maps
- Obesity: A Crisis in Texas
- Texas Obesity Policy Portfolio 2006
Diabetes
Health and Academic Achievement
- Institute of Medicine’s Report - “School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children”
- Health & Academics - DASH/HealthyYouth
- Nutrition, Physical Activity and Academic Achievement
- Fit Healthy and Ready to Learn a School Health Policy Guide
Health and Wellness…Healthy Families
- Family Voices
- CHIP - Children’s Health Insurance Program
- WIN - Publication - Helping Your Child
- OH Learning fact sheet Oral Health
Soda and cavities
- Building Healthy Families A Healthy Living Initiative
- Healthy Families , Healthy Communities English and Spanish
- We Can! - Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity & Nutrition
- School Nurses Organization - home
- National Association of School Nurses Healthy Schools Campaign
- kidshealth
School Health Advisory Councils (SHAC)
- School Health Advisory Council
- Guide for Texas School Districts
- Does Your District Have a SHAC? It’s the Law
- Award-winning Texas School District SHACs
- Parent Involvement and SHAC
Coordinated School Health Programs
School Surveys and Assessment Tools
- PTA Healthy Lifestyles at Home and School Fact-Finding Project
- USDA Team Nutrition Improvement Checklist
- CDC School Health Index
Wellness Policies
- School-Wellness www.school-wellness.org
- Wellness Policy Tools & Resources - DASH/HealthyYouth
- School Wellness: A New Opportunity…
- The Quick and Easy Guide to School Wellness
- Action For Healthy Kids
Good Nutrition
- Healthy School Nutrition Environment
- www.mypyramid.gov/podcasts
- Texas Department of Agriculture Square Meals Program
- USDA Team Nutrition Program
- Promoting Fruits and Vegetables in Schools
- Healthy School Snacks
- Expanded Nutrition Program
- Better Living for Texans - BLT - FSNE
- Texas Association for School Nutrition
- School Breakfast Program and Better Breakfast
- Special Milk Program
- Food Research and Action Center
Competitive Foods in Schools
- Competitive Foods in Schools
- National School Lunch Program: A Report to Congress
- Congress to Tackle Junk Food in Schools—Newsroom—News from CSPI
- School Food ~ CSPI School Foods Tool Kit
- Nutrition Policy School Food ~ CSPI
- making it happen school nutrition success stories
Healthy Alternatives
- Healthy Fundraising
- Alternatives to Food as Reward
- Healthy Celebrations
- sweet deals school fundraising can be healthy
- California Project LEAN | Bright Ideas
Physical Education/Activity/Recess
- Physical Activity - Promoting Health: Report
- TEA - Curriculum - Health & PE
- WELCOME TO TAHPERD Texas Association of Health, PE, Recreation, and Dance
- Recess Before Lunch Guide
- Rescuing Recess
- Peaceful Playgrounds
- Walk Across Texas
Programs for Students
- Eat Smart. Play Hard.
- mypyramid for kids (English and Spanish)
- Students Encouraging Nutritious Snacks Everyday web page
- Student Body FCCLA
- Students Taking Charge Tool Kit
Curriculum for Teachers and Programs for Students and Parents
- TEKS Aligned, nutrition based lesson plans and activities for teachers
- Bridges to Wellness: Nutrition Explorations
- The Science of Energy Balance: Calorie Intake and Physical Activity
- National Dairy Council - Tools For Schools and Milk Matters
- Welcome to BeefNutrition.org and www.family-mealtimes.org
- TeachFree.org - Welcome!
School Health Law and Policy
- Legislative Updates - School Health
- School Health Advisory Council
- K-8 Grade Coordinated School Health
- School Wellness: A New Opportunity
- Texas Public School Nutrition Policy
- K-8 Grade Physical Activity for Students
- FAQ for Texas Physical Education Requirements for 2007-08
- Legislative Updates - School Health
- Texas Department of State Health Services Accountability for Mandates
- Education Service Center School Health Specialist
- TEA - Curriculum - Health & PE
- The Care of Students with Diabetes in School
Texas Organizations and Agencies
- Texas Department of Agriculture - Square Meals Program
- Texas Beef Council - Home
- Dairy MAX
- Agri Life Extension Agency Health
Texas Parks and Wildlife
- Bike Texas-Safe Routes to School
- RecipeForSuccess
- The Oliver Foundation Make Healthy Choices for Life!
- Action for Healthy Kids: Texas
National Organizations and Agencies
- ASDC Whole Child: About the Whole Child
- Action for Healthy Kids
- Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Family Voices
- National Association of Health Education Centers
- National Association of School Nurses
- National Center for Safe Routes to School
- National School Boards Association
- PACER Center
- President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
- Safe Routes to School National Partnership
School Administrators
- Action for Healthy Kids : Exclusive Reports
- School Employee Wellness: A Guide to Protecting the Assets of Our Nation’s Schools
- The Quick and Easy Guide to School Wellness
Health Awards
- Texas PTA Healthy Lifestyles Award Recognition (coming soon)
- PTA Healthy Lifestyles Awards - PTA
- Awards for Excellence in Texas School Health
- Healthier US School Challenge
- The President’s Challenge - Presidential Champions
Grants
Healthy Lifestyles Success Stories and Ideas
Texas PTA would like to showcase your Healthy Lifestyles Success Stories to highlight the work of local PTAs across the state who are creating healthier school environments. Please post your stories on your local PTA or school Web site and submit your link to webmaster@txpta.org. Links will be posted on this page.
- Check Out Pleasant Hill Elementary’s Healthy Success Story!
- For More Stories and Inspiration: Coordinated Approach to Child Health 2009 Newsletter: CATCH’ing You In Action