Action for Healthy Kids® fights childhood obesity, undernourishment and physical inactivity by helping schools become healthier places so kids can live healthier lives. They partner with a legion of dedicated volunteers -- teachers, students, moms, dads, school wellness experts and more - from within the ranks of our 100,000+ network to create healthful school changes. After all, everyone has a part to play in ending the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic.
Action for Healthy Kids® efforts are supported by a collaboration of more than 75 organizations, corporations and government agencies. Working together, we’re giving kids the keys to health and academic success by meeting them where they are -- in the classroom, in the cafeteria and on the playground -- with fun physical activity and nutrition lessons and changes that make it possible for them to eat nutritiously and play actively every day.
The mission of Every Kid Healthy™ Week is to mobilize school professionals, families and communities to take actions that lead to healthy eating, physical activity and healthier schools where kids thrive.
Action for Healthy Kids' 2013-2016 strategic goal is to direct all efforts towards ensuring all U.S. schools provide healthy foods, quality health and physical education, and comprehensive physical activity for all students by 2030. They are making healthy kids a national priority by developing effective plans to implement district wellness policies, health programs and practices, and school-family-community partnerships. These three components will work together to drive transformative change in health policies, systems and environments. By taking greater action today, we can prevent our children from becoming obese adults counted among the millions with preventable chronic diseases.
History
Created in 2002 in response to 16th U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher’s public call to action, Action for Healthy Kids works with schools to fight the national epidemic of childhood obesity and poor health.
Since its founding, Action for Healthy Kids and its 75+ partner organizations have turned the spotlight on the childhood obesity crisis so it’s now widely acknowledged as a top priority by health and public health professionals, government leaders, school systems and the popular media -- galvanizing invaluable support from a wide range of constituencies.
Today, Action for Healthy Kids is a leader in this national movement to improve child health, working at the federal and state levels and in school districts and school buildings nationwide.
Lights, Camera, Breakfast Video Contest 2nd-place winner
Commitment to Change
Commitment to Change provides parents, educators, school administrators and school health volunteers with a blueprint to transform schools into healthier environments for kids by:
* Ensuring that every school is guided by a regularly updated wellness policy
* Providing all students, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, with culturally-sensitive physical activity and healthy eating educational programs
* Ensuring children and adolescents get at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily
* Making sure that all school foods meet the nutrition standards promoted in Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Accomplishments
* During the 2013–2014 school year Action for Healthy Kids worked hard to bring physical activity and nutrition lessons, programs and grants to more than 29,000 schools and their 12.8 million students.
*Our ranks of volunteers have grown from fewer than 700 in 2002 to more than 80,000 (and still growing) in 2014.
*We have a powerful partner network of more than 75 national organizations and associations representing leaders in health, education, nutrition, fitness, business, government agencies and other organizations that serve and care about youth.
*We continue to develop and refine a portfolio of programs and services to meet the growing need. These range from school nutrition and physical activity programs to expert coaching on how to develop, implement and evaluate a school wellness policy or action plan.
