Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit
15 Sperling Drive
Barrie ON L4M 6K9

Welcome to our do-it-yourself manual on creating healthy school guidelines specific to your elementary or secondary school! My name is Allan Kee, and I will be your general contractor for this project. Let's get started by answering a few "kee" questions:

What are healthy school guidelines, anyway?

Glad you asked! These are written statements that provide direction to the school community about healthy lifestyle-related issues such as nutrition, physical activity, tobacco-free living and sun safety. (Your school may already have guidelines in place for other health issues, such as the permissibility of peanut butter in school lunches). Healthy school guidelines go further; the goal is to create a school environment that supports health from a broader, lifestyle perspective.

Do I have to do all this work myself?

This is the good part! You don't have to do everything by yourself. It is a good idea to form a healthy school guidelines working group early on, to help with guideline development. The working group can be composed of school council members, school staff, interested parents and student leaders, and community members, among others. This group can help to move the process along, from evaluating what guidelines are needed, to creating and adopting new guidelines for improving school health.

Why do we need healthy school guidelines?

There are many good reasons!

1. First and foremost - the children. Many youngsters are not meeting the minimum recommendations for healthy eating and physical activity, and their health is suffering as a result! For instance, it used to be unheard of for a child to develop Type 2 diabetes, but now pediatricians are seeing more and more young patients with this serious lifestyle disease.
   
2. Children spend a large part of every day in school! The school environment therefore has a huge impact on children's health.
   
3. It will demonstrate that you are listening to the concerns of health-conscious parents.
   
4. It will enable your school to lead by example. Awareness-raising and knowledge in the classroom are great, but your school is going the extra step-walking its talk!

Why do guidelines work?

Guidelines create a blueprint for practical action! They set out in a clear and consistent fashion the expectations your school community has around healthy lifestyle issues. When guidelines are adopted by the whole school, the new standards become the norm. Your school will be setting a powerful example. This kind of social support and environmental reinforcement will help students adopt healthier lifestyle choices over the long term.

Putting guidelines in place also ensures that school environments mirror the positive health messages children receive in classrooms. After all, consistency is very important! Teaching children about healthy eating while having nothing but chocolate bars and pop in the vending machines sends a contradictory message.

Your school environment will grow and change in positive ways when guidelines are put into place and followed by everyone. This sort of "living proof" model can be extremely helpful in encouraging kids to adopt healthy behaviours, something that is not easily achieved through education alone. When guidelines are in place, it also helps to ensure that initiatives continue throughout the life of the school, regardless of staff and school council turnover.

Why do this now?

It has been speculated that for the first time in the history of the Western world, today's children may actually have a shorter life expectancy than their parents! Why? Despite the fact that our nation is one of the richest in the world, our children's current lifestyles - particularly their poor nutrition and lack of exercise - are putting them on the road to early disease, disability, and premature death.

It's time to make changes!

The Manual

Okay, so we want to make some healthy guidelines for our school! So how do we use this manual?

The Toolbox is divided into four main sections:

For those schools who wish to share information with parents through school newsletters on healthy eating, physical activity and sun safety, we have compiled some newsletter inserts for you to use. Please refer to Appendix A or check out the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit website at www.simcoemuskokahealth.org for newsletter insert suggestions.

Acknowledgments

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SCDHU) would like to thank the members of its Healthy Lifestyle team for their work in developing The Healthy School Guidelines Toolbox.

In addition, the SCDHU would like to acknowledge the following sources for material that was used/adapted for this publication:

• Cancer Council Victoria (Sun Smart School Program)
• Toronto Public Health
  
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
  
• Health Canada, Canada's Food Guide To Healthy Eating
  
• Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD), Active Living Schools
  
• Lambton Health Unit, Student Wellness: Healthy Eating

If you would like more information on healthy eating, physical activity, tobacco-free living, sun safety or healthy fundraising
Call Health Connection @ (705) 721-7520 or 1-877-721-7520
OR
Check out the following websites:

www.dietitians.ca

www.hc-sc.gc.ca

www.cancer.ca

www.missionnutrition.ca

www.ophea.net

www.simcoemuskokahealth.org

www.goforgreen.ca