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Welcome to this overview of the Wellness 
Policy in Action Tool or WPAT. In this module,  

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we will give background information 
on local school wellness policies,  

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review the elements of a local wellness policy, including the triennial assessment process, and  

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introduce you to a new tool that can help measure 
the implementation of a local wellness policy.

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Local wellness policies are written documents 
that outline school districts' efforts around  

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nutrition, physical activity, and other activities 
that promote student health and well-being.  

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They were first established by the Child Nutrition 
and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 and then were  

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updated through the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act 
of 2010. All school districts that participate in  

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the USDA Child Nutrition program, including the 
National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast  

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Program, are required to have a local school 
wellness policy. USDA has outlined a minimum  

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requirement for the wellness policy, but the 
intention is that each district will develop  

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a policy that reflects the needs of students and 
schools in the district. So one way to think of  

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a local wellness policy is that it is a roadmap 
for health and wellness efforts for the district.

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All local wellness policies must include 
nutrition standards for school meals that  

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meet or exceed the USDA requirements. Nutrition 
standards for all foods and beverages sold during  

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the day that meet or exceed the Smart 
Snacks in School nutrition standards,  

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goals for nutrition education and promotion, 
and also goals for physical activity.  

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Districts get to choose what those specific 
goals are. Wellness policies must also describe  

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the nutrition standards for other foods and 
beverages that are available during the school  

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day, such as foods and beverages used as a reward 
or offered at school events or classroom parties.

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Policies must also include language about food 
and beverage marketing that allows marketing and  

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advertising of only those foods and beverages 
that meet the Smart Snacks in School  

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nutrition standards. Districts must also allow 
the public to be involved in the wellness  

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policy development and update process. And lastly 
there's a requirement that at least once every  

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three years districts complete an assessment 
of the policy called triennial assessment.

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According to guidance from USDA, local education 
agencies must conduct an assessment of the  

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wellness policy every three years at a minimum. 
This assessment should show compliance with the  

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wellness policy, how the wellness policy 
compares to model wellness policies,  

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and progress made in attaining 
the goals of the wellness policy. 

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School districts should be ready to share 
this documentation with their state agency.

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So how can school districts measure 
wellness policy implementation?  

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Some state agencies and school districts have 
created templates for school districts to use, 

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but previously there was no national tool 
to help districts and schools assess the  

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relationship between district-level 
policies and school-level practices.  

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Recognizing this gap, CDC worked with the 
University of Connecticut Rudd Center to create an  

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online assessment that helps districts and schools 
with this process using two existing online  

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assessment tools the WellSAT 3.0, which assesses 
the strength of district wellness policies,  

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and the CDC School Health Index, which helps 
schools assess their school health practices.

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The new tool is called the Wellness Policy in 
Action Tool or WPAT. This tool can help districts  

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understand if the wellness policy is consistently 
implemented in schools across the district and  

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determine if schools are already implementing 
practices that could be incorporated into the  

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district policy. Schools can use WPAT to see 
how their school nutrition and physical activity  

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practices align with their district's local school 
wellness policy. This information can help schools  

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identify where implementation plans are needed 
to ensure that practices are consistent with  

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current policies, share current practices that 
can be incorporated into the district policy,  

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and identify opportunities for new nutrition 
and physical activity practices to work toward.  

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In the next few modules, we will take a closer 
look at the WPAT, including how to create an  

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account, how to complete the assessment, 
and how to interpret and use the results.