Vermont public health association

The VtPHA acknowledges that schools have multiple opportunities for promoting health and preventing illness in Vermont youth, while setting the stage for a lifetime of healthy behaviors. Learning stands to be more successful when students, faculty and staff are healthy. Furthermore, higher educational status is associated with better adult health status. Therefore, VtPHA supports policies that assure the following components of school health:

• Comprehensive, research-based health curriculum
• Physical education that encourages lifelong physical fitness
• Essential health services with linkages to community providers
• Nutrition services and policies that support healthy and safe food choices
• Counseling and social services that help remove barriers to student academic success
• Safe and supportive school environments that encourage academic success
• Reduction and elimination of exposures to environmental toxins in the school environment
• Health promotion for faculty and staff wellness
• Family and community involvement
• Resources for promoting health that maximize student capacity for learning