Abstract
Background
The Final Rule of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, published in 2016, required school
districts participating in the federal Child Nutrition Programs to update their local
wellness policies to reflect the more stringent requirements effective June 30, 2017.
Objective
Our aim was to investigate whether Wisconsin school wellness policies (SWPs) were
updated after the Final Rule, measure policy quality change, and describe mechanisms
of successful policy change.
Design
From 2016 through 2018, an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study examined change
in SWP quality before and after the Final Rule was published. SWPs were collected
in 2 waves reflecting policies written before and updated after the July 21, 2016
publication of the Final Rule. Semi-structured key-informant interviews were conducted
with districts that demonstrated significant policy improvement.
Participants/setting
Quantitative analysis examined 442 Wisconsin school districts’ SWPs. Semi-structured
interviews were conducted with 14 school districts that demonstrated significant change
between waves.
Main outcome measures
WellSAT 2.0 strength and comprehensiveness scores measured SWP quality among districts
that updated their policies. Themes from interviews were identified using framework
analysis.
Statistical analysis performed
First, we calculated the proportion of Wisconsin school districts participating in
federal Child Nutrition Programs for which SWPs were obtained at both waves of policy
collection (n = 192 districts, 43.4%). Among districts that updated SWPs in wave II,
repeated-measure analysis of variance tests described policy quality and policy quality
change, respectively.
Results
Among the 192 districts that updated their SWPs, policy quality increased overall
and for 5 of 6 domains. Nutrition education scores did not show significant change.
Interviewees commonly cited wellness leadership, support and resources, and buy-in
and culture change as key components of policy improvement.
Conclusions
Fewer than half of Wisconsin school districts updated their policies in the 10 months
after the Final Rule was published. SWP from these districts showed policy quality
improvement in most areas. Interviews with successful districts indicate the common
need for empowered leaders and supportive environments to facilitate culture change
around student wellness.
Keywords
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Biography
H. R. Joyner is an associate researcher, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Biography
L. Weymouth is an assistant scientist, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Biography
E. Skalitzky is an associate researcher, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Biography
S. Hillert is a student research assistant, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 10, 2020
Accepted:
August 17,
2020
Received:
December 23,
2019
Footnotes
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT Funding for this project was provided by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health through the Wisconsin Partnership Program.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
