Olarte Deborah A, Cueva Katie, Economos Christina D, Chui Kenneth, Rodvik Brittany, Cohen Juliana F W
Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska, USA.
J Sch Health. 2025 Mar;95(3):247-253. doi: 10.1111/josh.13535. Epub 2024 Dec 26.
Schools play a key role in children's health. Following COVID-19, programs that promote students' well-being are needed more than ever. This study examines the continuation of a wellness initiative in Anchorage, Alaska, in the 2021-2022 school year.
Interviews were conducted with n = 25 principals and cafeteria managers. Content analyses of the qualitative data were conducted using an immersion/crystallization approach. Codes were grouped to create themes contained under larger domains.
All schools continued aspects of the wellness initiative following COVID-19. Principals and cafeteria managers indicated: recess, movement opportunities, and longer lunch periods are important for mental health, socialization, and relationship building; COVID-19 exacerbated previous challenges with staffing shortages; additional pressure for the academic time made scheduling the wellness initiative challenging; longer lunch periods give younger students time to eat but cause poor behavior in older students which were alleviated through supportive strategies; and 30-minute recess and movement breaks offer more time to move, reset, and focus on schoolwork.
IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: The study underscores the importance of school administrators integrating wellness initiatives into their policies, with buy-in from school and district leadership.
This study highlights the need for and importance of school wellness initiatives following COVID-19 extended school closures.
学校在儿童健康方面发挥着关键作用。在新冠疫情之后，比以往任何时候都更需要促进学生福祉的项目。本研究考察了阿拉斯加安克雷奇市一项健康倡议在2021 - 2022学年的延续情况。
对25名校长和食堂经理进行了访谈。使用沉浸/结晶法对定性数据进行了内容分析。对代码进行分组以创建包含在更大领域下的主题。
在新冠疫情之后，所有学校都延续了健康倡议的各个方面。校长和食堂经理表示：课间休息、运动机会和更长的午餐时间对心理健康、社交和人际关系建立很重要；新冠疫情加剧了此前人员短缺带来的挑战；学业时间的额外压力使得安排健康倡议具有挑战性；更长的午餐时间给年幼学生留出了吃饭时间，但导致年长学生行为不佳，而通过支持性策略这种情况得到了缓解；30分钟的课间休息和运动休息提供了更多时间来活动、调整状态并专注于学业。
对学校健康政策、实践和公平性的启示：该研究强调了学校管理人员将健康倡议纳入其政策的重要性，需要得到学校和学区领导的支持。
本研究突出了新冠疫情导致学校长期关闭后学校健康倡议的必要性和重要性。
