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ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Schools are an important environmental context in children's lives and are part of the complex web of factors that contribute to childhood obesity. Increasingly, attention has been placed on the importance of school climate (connectedness, academic standards, engagement, and student autonomy) as 1 domain of school environment beyond health policies and education that may have implications for student health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the association of school climate with body mass index ( BMI) among urban preadolescents. METHODS Health surveys and physical measures were collected among fifth- and sixth-grade students from 12 randomly selected public schools in a small New England city. School climate surveys were completed district-wide by students and teachers. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the association between students' BMI and schools' climate scores. RESULTS After controlling for potentially confounding individual-level characteristics, a 1-unit increase in school climate score (indicating more positive climate) was associated with a 7-point decrease in students' BMI percentile. CONCLUSIONS Positive school climate is associated with lower student BMI percentile. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this relationship and to explore whether interventions promoting positive school climate can effectively prevent and/or reduce obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve understanding about selected barriers to the implementation of 2 school food policies by examining the perceptions of those responsible for implementation. Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted. Policies were implemented in an urban district in the northeastern US. Participants were 67 educators, including principals, assistant principals, school wellness facilitators, teachers, and staff. The majority were female (n = 49; 73.13%) and white (n = 55; 82.09%). Two school nutrition policies: Food as a Reward and In-School Celebrations. This study focused on educators' responses related to barriers to implementation. Transcripts were uploaded to NVivo for organization and coding. The following themes emerged: student hunger and cultural norms. Understanding the challenges of those who are implementing school-level policies is necessary to advancing school nutrition reform effectively. Next steps for practice and research include addressing basic needs such as a sense of belonging and food insecurity, within school-family, adapting policies to meet those needs in schools, and including local educators as equal partners in developing policies to ensure that policies are acceptable and implemented as planned. By involving educators and ensuring that basic needs are met first, educators may feel more motivated to implement classroom policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]