Wellness Resources

Nutrition Physical Activity Health Promotion Parent Engagement Behavioral Health
Nutrition Physical Activity	Health Promotion	Parent Engagement	Behavioral Health

Wellness Resources

Welcome to the Wellness Resources! Please use the icons above to navigate the resources used to improve the health of students, families, staff and the community.

Nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition is an important part of both school and home life. Below are some resources and guidelines to help your family make healthy choices.

USDA's "All Foods Sold in Schools" Standards
USDA recently published practical, science-based nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold to children at school during the school day. The standards will allow schools to offer healthier snack foods to children, while limiting junk food.

Smart Snacks
Smart Snacks nutrition standards are now a federal law and implemented in all schools across the country. Smart Snacks will will apply to all foods sold to students outside of the school meals programs, including vending machines, a la carte, school stores, snack carts and fundraising.

San Diego Unified School District Approved Food List -Smart Snacks | Spanish
Read up on the list of foods and beverages that meet the Smart Snacks standard for all grade levels.

Effective & Healthy Rewards for Kids
Rewards and performance accomplishments reinforce desirable behavior and encourage its repetition. There are many non-food rewards that your students will enjoy!

Healthy Fundraising
Candy, baked goods, soda, and other foods have little nutritional value, but are frequently used in school fundraising events. An environment that consistently provides students with sweets promotes unhealthy eating habits that can have lifelong impact.

Nutrition Label Quick Reference Sheet
Learn all about the Nutritional Label and what everything means!

Nutrition Education
Here are some resources for nutrition education, including MyPlate, California Food for California Kids® Lessons, "No-Cook" Cooking Carts, and more.

Dairy Council for California
Resources for staff, students, and parents that are free regardless of free and reduced lunch status at the school.

UC Cooperative Extension
Their mission is to assist low-income youth and families with young children to acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes, and changed behavior necessary to choose nutritionally sound diets and to contribute to their personal development and the improvement of total family diet and nutritional welfare.

Yummy Curriculum
It is a collection of classroom materials that helps elementary school teachers integrate nutrition education into Math, Science, English Language Arts, and Health. This yummy curriculum introduces the importance of eating from all five food groups using the MyPlate icon and a variety of hands-on activities. Students also learn the importance of physical activity to staying healthy. 

USDA Team Nutrition

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Physicial Activity

Physicial Activity

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that children aged 6-17 years engage in at least 60 minutes of physicial activity a day. Regular physical activity in childhood and adolescence will improve strength and endurance, support building healthy bones and muscles, assist in controlling weight, decrease anxiety and stress, improve self-esteem, and possibly reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Alternative Options to Withholding Recess and Physical Activity
Research has shown that taking physical activity away from children decreases their attention spans and ability to focus in the classroom and increases behavior problems and trips to the principal's office. Furthermore, with today's childhood obesity epidemic, it is more important than ever for children to be physically active throughout the school day.

Alternatives to Witholding Recess
Here are 60 options to withholding recess, including discipline alternatives.

Ideas to Incorporate 10 More Minutesof Physical Activity Every Day
Above lists some innovation options to increase physical activity in the classroom.

Secondary Classroom Physical Activities
Engaging students in middle school and high school in physical activity may be a challenge, but this article provides some tips and lesson integrations that may be helpful for teachers.

Fit 2 Learn, Fit 4 Life
Fit 2 Learn, Fit 4 Life is a website that provides resources to assist teachers in providing standards-based, Common Core aligned physical education that engages students in Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) at least 50% of class time.

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Health Promotion

Health Promotion

Health Promotion enables our teachers, students and families to gain control over and improve their health. It does not only focus on individual behavior but a wide range of social and environmental interventions.

Healthy Classroom Celebrations
Celebrations and seasonal holidays are an important part of the school experience. The above articles and resources will help you incorporate healthier snacks and physical activity into these special events.

Food at School Parties
A very informative infographic about the amount of calories students consume in a year through parties.

No Outside Food/Drinks Sign

Celebrate Without Food
Alternative ways to celebrate parties without food.

Tips for Teachers to Improve Healthy Eating & Physical Activity
The article has tips for teachers to improve health in the classroom such as giving students more access to water, use rewards that supports health, including healthy eating habits and physical activity in health education, and more.

Constructive Classroom Rewards: Promoting Good Habits While Protecting Children's Health
Rewarding children in the classroom need not involve candy and other foods that can undermine children's diets and health and reinforce unhealthful eating habits. A wide variety of alternative rewards can be used to provide positive reinforcement for children's behavior and academic performance.

San Diego County Tools for Schools Toolkit
The "Tools for Schools" toolkit is designed to help equip school districts and individual schools with the tools and best practices to implement programs aimed at reducing childhood obesity and create healthier school environments for all students.

Olivewood Gardens
Olivewood Gardens is a community and garden resource facility in National City and offers visitng school children a curriculum of ecological, academic and culinary lessons to build scientific literacy and environmental awareness, which encouraging students and visitors to explore the interrelationships between a quality diet, sustainable agriculture and healthy living.

Healthy Fundraising Resources
An environment that constantly provides children with sweets promotes unhealthy habits that can have lifelong impact. As we face a national epidemic of overweight children, many schools are turning to healthy fundraising alternatives.

Funding Opportunities for Wellness
Provide funding and support to increase physical activity and nutrition initiatives.

Employee Wellness

Comprehensive School Safety Plan
District Circular #25

Kaiser -Staff Wellness Coach FAQ for Members
Staff Wellness Coach FAQ

Kaiser -Staff Weight Management for Members
Staff Weight Management

Kaiser -Staff Healthy Resource Guide for Members
Staff Healthy Resource Guide

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Parent Engagement

Parent Engagement

Engaging parents in their children's school lives is essential to supporting children's success in the classroom and their overall health and well-being.

Promoting Parent Engagement
Parent engagement in schools is defined as parents and school staff working together to support and improve the learning, development, and health of children and adolescents. Studies have shown that parent engagement in schools can promote positive education and health behaviors among children and adolescents.

Get Involved in the School Wellness Councils
Students face many risks to their health which impact their ability to be successful learners in school. Schools alone cannot be responsible for the health and well-being of children, but along with families and other partners in the community, we can make a difference in the student's life.

Parents in Action: Engaging Parents in Support of School Wellness Policy
California Project Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition developed a toolkit that aims to support parents' effort to improve school health environment and physical activity through district wellness policies.

ParentsforHealthyKids.org
A new website from the National PTA & Action for Healthy Kids that teaches parents how to get involved in school health and wellness to create healthier schools where kids can thrive.

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Behavioral Health

Behavioral Health

Behavioral Health is one of the most important aspect of a student's life. Students need a good mental status to fulfill their potential and live a life full of positive experiences and willingness to do the best for themselves and those around them.

Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools
The toolkit was created to help high schools, school districts, and their partners design and implement strategies to prevent suicide and promote behavioral health among their students. Suicide prevention efforts in high schools are usually led by school counselors, mental health professionals, or social workers. But it is important to remember that no one-not the principal, not the counselor, and not the most passionate and involved parent-can establish effective suicide prevention strategies alone. The participation, support, and active involvement of others in the school and community are essential for success.

Preventing Suicide: Tips for Parents & Educators
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among school age youth. However, suicide is preventable. Youth who are contemplating suicide frequently give warning signs of their distress. Parents, teachers, and friends are in a key position to pick up on these signs and get help. Most important is to never take these warning signs lightly or promise to keep them secret.

Save a Friend: Tips for Teens to Prevent Suicide
As a peer, you may be in the best position to recognize when a friend might need help and help them get it. You may see signs in person, hear about them secondhand, or see them online in social media. Never ignore these signs. It is important to learn these warning signs and what to do if you see any them in yourself or a friend. Suicide is preventable. By listening, talking, and acting you could save a life.

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