Operationalizing Local School Wellness Policies in New York City

Objective: The study aim was to identify common attributes of 19 New York City (NYC) wellness programs across 1463 schools in academic year 2012-13 and evaluate whether programs provide products or services that address non-instructional requirements of the 2010 NYC district wellness policy. Methods: School wellness program websites were reviewed to identify program attributes and reported deliverables. Deliverables were compared to the components of the local wellness policy. Results: Wellness programs most frequently addressed nutrition education and promotion (63.2%, N = 12) and least frequently addressed staff wellness (10.5%, N = 2). Conclusion: Findings suggest that sections of the NYC district wellness policy are not equally addressed by externally provided wellness programs. Wellness programs may need to develop additional resources to aid schools in assessment activities.