Legislative Visit Training for Parents

Jan. 19, 2011

What is advocacy? What's needed for a successful meeting with your representative or senator? How can a parent make their case effectively for preventing and addressing obesity in childhood? And what's at the heart of the Partnership's 2013 legislative agenda? In this webinar, members of the Partnership for a Healthy Texas demonstrate the answers to these questions. Presenters from the Partnership for a Healthy Texas offer parents and others key training to prepare for an effective meeting at the Capitol on the topic of obesity.

 

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Priorities for 82nd Legislative Session

School Health
  Improve school health and increase accountability by:

  Physical Education and Physical Activity

• Increasing the usefulness of FitnessGram data by requiring reporting of de-identified, individual fitness data to TEA allowing the Agency to
  accurately correlate fitness data with academic data, and make that
  data available to parents

• Implementing national standards for physical education including
  minutes per week, class size and certified teachers for grades K-12.
• Prohibiting schools from withholding physical activity, PE or recess time as a consequence for classroom behavior or academic remediation

  Health Education

• Making health education a requirement for high school graduation

  Accountability

  Improving accountability by:

• Requiring that yearly SHAC reports to school boards include
  information on how campuses have incorporated coordinated
  school health into their campus improvement plans
• Recognizing schools that are meeting and exceeding minimum
  standards for implementing coordinated school health

  School Nutrition

• Maximizing opportunities to improve the Texas school nutrition
  environment through the federal Child Nutrition Act reauthorization

Built Environment

• Support physical activity in the community environment by supporting
  “complete streets” policies to encourage walking and bicycling for health, transportation and recreation

Early Childhood

• Improve nutrition and physical activity in early childhood programs,
  including support for following current Dietary Guidelines for Americans in childcare settings

Food Access

Improve access to healthy foods.

• Improve access to farmer’s markets and other retailers offering fresh fruits and vegetables
• Strengthen farm to school linkages

Curb Obesity's Cost

Support essential funding to reduce the spread of obesity including its related chronic diseases, and raise awareness about nutrition, healthy living, and physical activity.

• Fund existing obesity prevention initiatives, including coordinated school health and the Texas School Health Network
• Identify and maximize funding that promotes a healthier Texas, curbs
  consumption of unhealthy products, reduces the obesity-related health
  costs that get passed on to taxpayers and businesses, and reaps future
  savings for Texas