Impact of Mississippi Healthy Students Act of 2007 on District- and School-Level Health Policies: School Officials' Perspectives

• Published in: The Journal of school health 2014-05, Vol.84 (5), p.285-293
• Main Authors: Buffington, Anne, McKee, Colleen, Ragsdale, Kathleen, Blanchard, Troy C., Baggett, Dorris, Southward, Linda H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administrator Attitudes; Biological and medical sciences; Boards of Education; Body Composition; Body Mass Index; child and adolescent health; Children; Company business management; Comparative Analysis; Diet; Effectiveness studies; Exercise; Federal legislation; Health aspects; Health care policy; Health Education; Health initiatives; Health Policy; Humans; Influence; Management; Medical policy; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Mississippi; Nursing; nutrition and diet; Obesity; organization and administration of school health programs; Parents; Pediatric Obesity - prevention & control; Policy making; Prevention and actions; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Public Schools; School Districts; School Personnel; School Policy; Schools - organization & administration; State Legislation; State Surveys; Student health services; Students; Superintendents; Teenagers; Youth
• ISSN: 0022-4391; 1746-1561
• DOI: 10.1111/josh.12152

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Annual evaluations of the Mississippi Healthy Students Act of 2007 (MHSA) were conducted during 2009‐2011 (years 1‐3) among 4 stakeholder groups: (1) parents of public school students, (2) adolescents, (3) state‐level policymakers (ie, legislators and other state officials), and (4) public school officials (ie, superintendents and school board members). METHODS We examine results from the first state‐wide surveys conducted among purposive samples of superintendents (N = 314) and school board members (N = 689) on childhood obesity as it related to MHSA. These school officials were surveyed in years 1‐3 to determine their knowledge or attitudes toward MHSA and support of potential policies, such as reporting results of student body mass index (BMI) assessments to parents. RESULTS Through the 3 years of the study, school officials were supportive of MHSA across a number of variables, although superintendents were consistently more supportive of current policies as compared with school board members. CONCLUSIONS Results underscore the current and potential role of school officials relative to the process of fully implementing MHSA within all public school districts in Mississippi. Implications and 3 cases that illustrate diverse ways that school districts have chosen to implement effective school‐based health initiatives are discussed.