Now more than ever, parents need to back schools up when it comes to achieving a healthy school day.

School wellness policies govern junk food marketing, physical education and more in schools. And this year all school districts must update their policies by the end of June. This is a great opportunity to make our voices heard! 

Can you help? It's as easy as sending an email or dropping by the district office.

Schools are an important place to build healthy habits. Children spend the majority of their day at school, and often eat up to half of their daily calories there too. For kids experiencing food insecurity at home, those calories are even more important. 

We've made tremendous progress over the past five years, including winning healthy meal and snack standards for schools. Over 99% of schools are meeting the new healthy standards. Victory for our kids!

But you've probably seen the news that Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has just proposed rolling back some of the most important elements of those healthy school meal standards, in particular around sodium, non-fat milk and whole grains. [1] Ouch.

That's why the parent voice is so, so needed. Dropping off a school wellness kit in person or by email provides the critical end-of-year boost our schools need!

Sign up now to join us!

Here's the deal: A wellness policy is basically the plan for how a school will promote health and well-being. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 ushered in some important updates to wellness policies, requiring they include:

• "Specific goals for nutrition promotion and education, physical activity and other school-based activities that promote student wellness."
• "Standards and nutrition guidelines for all food and drink sold or provided to students during the school day." (This includes school celebrations and incentives!)
• "Policies for food and beverage marketing, requiring that all items meet the Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards." [2] 

The updates also open the door for increased parent and community involvement. (Psst: That’s you!)

School districts must update their wellness policies by the end of June. Time is tight! Act now to help us ensure our kids get the strongest start possible. 

Sign up now to be a School Wellness Hero!

When you sign up, we’ll send you: 

• Handy resources to share with your school, including a sample wellness policy that includes strong language around marketing and PE.
• Easy talking points to use in a call, email or visit to your school district.
• An “I Rise for Healthy Kids” sticker you can wear with pride. 

You’re almost there! Click here to join us! This is an easy and important way to get involved.

Have time to drop these materials to the district office in person? Great! Only have time to email? Also great! We know you’re busy, and anything you can do is a huge help. And any of it makes you a School Wellness Hero in our book!

We know you’re a champion for healthy schools. Parents overwhelmingly support a healthy school day. Over 200,000 of us spoke out in support of updated meal standards. And our voices are needed around wellness too.

We know the world can feel overwhelming right now, and there’s so much to do. This is an easy investment in the healthy and future of our kids and communities. Let’s knock this one out of the park!

Thank you for all you do!

[1] https://business.facebook.com/MomsRising.org/posts/10154371624506610?business_id=10153088002291610

[2] USDA website