By Dax Janel Valencia
Today’s healthy schools are transforming classrooms and better supporting students by moving away from sedentary, punitive approaches to tailored, whole-child environments. They factor in healthy meals and learning environments, including indoor air quality (IAQ) and comfort, aside from improved teaching methods.
IAQ in schools is of particular importance to students, affecting learning experiences and overall long-term welfare. As the U.S. EPA reports, most people spend around 90% of their time indoors, where the levels of some pollutants can be two, five, or even over 100 times higher than outdoor levels.
What Do Healthy Schools Mean?
The term “healthy schools” refers to educational institutions whose mission, vision, and goals are to provide active protection and promotion of the following aspects of both students and staff members:
- Physical health
- Mental well-being
- Social-emotional welfare
Healthy eating in schools is a primary component of student-centered institutions. They also establish safe, supportive learning environments where physical activity, access to a wide array of health services, and clean physical facilities (IAQ and water) are top priorities.
What Are the Key Components of Healthy Schools?
Whether they’re private schools or public schools, healthy educational institutions often adopt and follow the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) framework.
The WSCC is the result of the collaboration of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). It’s a multifaceted approach that covers 10 components, including:
- Physical education
- Health services
- Health education
- Nutrition environment and services
- Employee wellness
- Physical environment
- Social and emotional climate
- Family engagement
- Community involvement
- Counseling, psychological, and social services
The goal of the WSCC is to help create healthier schools run by compassionate, understanding adults (teachers and other staff members) and provide students with safety, engagement, support, and mind-and-body challenges that promote long-term health and welfare.
How Are Healthy Schools Transforming Classrooms and Better Supporting Learners?
Healthy schools transform classrooms and support learners better than before by minimizing sedentary learning (sitting for prolonged periods in class). They’re also moving away from “one-size-fits-all” approaches to more tailored education, factoring in each student.
Today’s high-performing schools prioritize nutrition and the safety of actual learning environments, too. Institutional leaders and educators now know that exposure to healthy meals, optimal IAQ, and comfortable facilities plays a role in students’ current and future lives.
Minimizing Sedentary Classroom Behaviors
Data from America’s Health Rankings shows that in the United States, only 19.7% of children ages six to 17 were physically active for at least 60 minutes (one hour) every day within the past week.
A key contributor to children’s sedentary behavior is their prolonged sitting time. They spend a good chunk of this at school, seated in class.
Today’s healthy schools are intervening by incorporating more activities that encourage students to learn not just by sitting, but also by standing up and moving around. Examples include:
- Introducing ergonomic, height-adjustable sit-stand and fidget desks that promote micro movements as children study
- Engaging in learning tasks requiring physical activity (kinesthetic learning), such as acting out vocabulary words or playing math hopscotch
- Scheduling physical activity and brain breaks
Removing the Junk From School Meals
Today’s highly rated schools have become more conscious of what they provide and allow students to eat. Many have already overhauled their food policies and menus to eliminate options full of artificial additives and ultra-processed junk.
At the same time, healthy schools are prioritizing well-balanced, nourishing meals for students. They know that without proper nutrition, children’s physical, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning will suffer.
Education That Goes Beyond the Classroom
Healthy schools still deliver traditional education, like social studies and language arts. They’re critical subjects necessary to build children’s strong academic foundations.
However, you’ll now also find tuition-free charter schools offering STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and arts programs that encourage students to become more creative and confident outside the classroom, as noted by Legacy East Mesa.
Environments Optimized for Better Learning
Comfortable learning environments that boast good IAQ levels are critical to children’s academic success and long-term health and well-being. Conversely, uncomfortable, unsanitary facilities and polluted indoor air can lead to the following consequences:
- Increased fatigue
- Higher risk of illnesses (e.g., respiratory problems due to air pollutants)
- Constant distractions (negatively affecting learning experiences and retention)
Modern schools take healthy learning environments seriously by integrating thoughtful school architecture with optimal thermal systems (e.g., energy-efficient, high-performance heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems).
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Long-Term Benefits of Attending Healthy Schools?
Since school is a place where students spend a considerable portion of their waking hours, they have a significant impact on children’s:
- Development
- Academic success
- Lifelong health patterns and habits
When kids attend healthy schools, their exposure to health and safety risks decreases, which can then translate to lower odds of getting sick and missing class. The better a student’s health, the more they can focus in class, and the higher their attendance rate.
All that can lead to educational achievements and habits that can prepare and serve children well in adulthood and their future careers.
The health and safety practices that students see and learn while in school can also become instilled in them. As a result, kids can engage in these safety habits at home and anywhere else outside of school.
How Does Sedentary Behavior at School Impact Children’s Health?
Sedentary behavior is just as, if not more, critical for children, as it can disrupt their metabolism and stunt their bone and muscle development. It can also alter their academic performance and overall cognitive development.
In the long run, being sedentary or lacking in physical activity can make children more likely to become ill with chronic diseases.
Healthy Schools: Supporting Children Today So They Can Have a Better Tomorrow
Today’s educational institutions are no longer just about providing students with a place for rote memorization. They’ve become healthy schools, prioritizing children’s holistic development and wellness, from physical to mental, cognitive, and social well-being.
If you’re looking for more educational guides like this or the latest news coverage with a focus on the Black community, we’ve got you covered. Explore the rest of our news website to stay in the loop on the most current events.
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