CDC Releases SHPPS 2006 - Study Shows Progress But More Needs to be Done

A study conducted last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that there have been considerable improvements in U.S. schools’ policies and programs that promote the health and safety of students, particularly in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco use.  Survey results indicate, for instance, that states prohibiting schools from offering junk foods in vending machines increased from 8% in 2000 to 32% in 2006.

Nevertheless, according to the CDC, there is still more that can be done to enhance the wellbeing of students and school staff across the country.  For example, study results show that, overall, 22% of schools did not require students to take any physical education.  In addition, the median number of hours required for elementary school teachers to spend on in-class nutrition education decreased from 4.6 hours in 2000 to 3.4 hours in 2006.

The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) is a national survey conducted every six years to assess school health policies and programs at the state, district, school, and classroom levels.  Beginning in 1994, this is the third time the SHPPS study has been conducted.  The study gathers data on specific health topics such as alcohol- or other drug-use prevention; asthma; crisis preparedness, response, and recovery; foods and beverages sold outside of the school meals programs; food safety; HIV prevention; injury prevention and safety; nutrition; physical activity; physical education; physical school environment; pregnancy prevention; STD prevention; suicide prevention; tobacco-use prevention; and violence prevention.

SHPPS 2006 was designed to answer the following questions: 1) What are the characteristics of each school health program component at the state, district, school, and classroom (where applicable) levels and across elementary, middle, and high schools?; 2) Are there persons responsible for coordinating and delivering each school health program component and what are their qualifications and educational backgrounds?; 3) What collaboration occurs among staff from each school health program component and with staff from outside agencies and organizations?; and 4) How have key policies and practices changed over time?

Positive highlights from the 2006 survey include:

  • States that required elementary schools to provide students with regularly scheduled recess increased from 4% in 2000 to 12% in 2006 and the percentage of school districts with this requirement increased from 46% to 57%;
  • The percentage of states with policies that prohibited all tobacco use in all locations increased from 24.5% in 2000 to 38.0% in 2006, and the percentage of schools with such policies increased from 46.3% to 63.6%; and
  • The percentage of middle schools and high schools in which health services or mental health and social services staff provided HIV counseling, testing, and referrals increased from 31.9% in 2000 to 62.0% in 2006.

Highlights of areas that need improvement include:

  • Seventy-seven percent of high schools still sell soda or fruit drinks that are not 100% juice, and 61% sell salty snacks not low in fat in their vending machines or school stores;
  • Only 4% of elementary schools, 8% of middle schools, and 2% of high schools provided daily physical education or its equivalent for the entire school year for students in all grades; and
  • Currently, 36% of schools still do not have policies prohibiting tobacco use in all locations at all times.

The CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) website includes a webpage dedicated to SHPPS which provides an overview of the study; topic-specific fact sheets; state-level summaries; data files and archives; and access to the comprehensive study results. The comprehensive results are published in the Journal of School Health, Volume 77, Number 8, October 2007. 

A Spanish version of a CDC press release on SHPPS is also available at http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/2007/rs071019a.htm.

For further information, please visit the SHPPS webpage at http://www.cdc.gov/shpps.

Source: “CDC Study Finds U.S. Schools Making Progress in Decreasing Availability of Junk Food and Promoting Physical Activity. However, More Progress Needed to Foster Health and Wellness of Students,” CDC Press Release, October 19, 2007 and SHPPS Fact Sheets, SHPPS webpage on DASH website. 


 

 
 
Connect With NSBA
 
 


From: 
Email:  
To: 
Email:  
Subject: 
Message: