Exploring Weight and Body Image in High School: An Educational Leadership Perspective

• In Event: What Students and Teachers Know About Health: Implications for School and Community Partnerships

Abstract

Panelist 2 is a practitioner-researcher in a mid-size suburban school district and holds a doctorate in educational leadership. Her work is centered on body image, childhood obesity, and their implications for school-age children’s nutrition and well-being. She is particularly interested in the role and responsibilities of school leaders to address the growing problem of nutrition in schools. Panelist 2 will present data on the perceptions of student, faculty, and parent stakeholders of the newly-implemented wellness policy at a suburban high school.

As a context for her presentation, Panelist 2 will examine the requirements of No Child Left Behind, focusing on a discussion on the degree to which schools address issues of wellness, health, and nutrition. Schools are required to have wellness, health, and nutrition policies in place if funds are received under the guidelines of the National School Lunch Program’s 2004 Child Nutrition Act. These new wellness policies prescribe specific physical activity and food services standards. However, the degree to which school districts integrate these guidelines and to which school staff, parents, and students are aware and respond to them is unclear.

Panelist 2’s presentation will be drawn from a qualitative research study of 162 members of a school community, including teachers, counselors, nurses, librarians, administrators, parents, and students about their perceptions regarding knowledge of, need for, and actual practices around the school’s wellness policy.

The results from the study illustrate the need for better policy communication, increased stakeholder involvement, the creation of a wellness council, and meaningful professional development opportunities for faculty around student and community wellbeing, specifically nutrition, obesity, and body image. Panelist 2 will share findings that contribute to the current knowledge-base on health and nutrition policy development, implementation, and practice.

Author

• Tulane Jackson, University of Pennsylvania