We are proud to have partnered and led efforts to:
- Reduce and remove high fat milk products in schools
- Create healthy snack bar and vending machine guidelines for schools in Charlottesville and Albemarle. Snack bars and vending machines are often exempt from the nutrition requirements that apply to school meals, and school children often bypass healthier meals in favor of enticing and less-healthy options from the snack bar line or vending machine. This initiative was the foundation for the Virginia Action for Healthy Kids nutrition guidelines later adopted statewide.
- Develop nutrition standards for school lunch, adopted state-wide in Virginia
- Develop a healthy snack pyramid for school-age children
- Monitor height and weight data in 3rd and 5th grade public school children continuously since 1998
- Present data and recommendations to the Charlottesville City School Board and committees focused on school nutrition in Charlottesville and Albemarle.
- Draft a wellness policy for Charlottesville and Albemarle County schools
- Conduct a free health clinic for overweight children, staffed entirely by volunteer health professionals
- Create a free Family Health & Fitness camp for overweight youth and their families at Camp Holiday Trails, in Albemarle
- Create a Youth Physical Activity Resource Guide to help parents find opportunities for physical activity for their children
- Collaborate with 14 area schools to help implement and fund activities addressing physical activity and nutrition
- Educate the public through TV and radio interviews and newspaper articles—25 and counting!