Table 1.

Policy and environmental prevention strategy categories, items, and implementation rates (% with policy).

Policy/strategy category	Category content	Category items	% with policy	Mean sum of strategy frequency (standard deviation)	Scale range
Food service practices (α = .70)	Procurement and preparation standards for meals and snacks	This school has a food procurement policy in place that sets/follows nutrition standards for school meals and snacks	66.1%	1.85 (0.25)	0–2
Food service staff follow practices for healthy preparation of school meals	75.8%
Physical education (PE) policies (α = .82)	Regulations around the time requirements and standards for physical education	This school follows national and/or state physical education guidelines and standards	85.5%	3.83 (0.65)	0–4
Students at this school regularly participate in physical activity	95.2%
This school offers regular physical education	95.2%
This school has specified time requirements for PE	91.9%
Teachers at this school sometimes exclude students from PE as punishment for bad behaviora, b	17.8%
Healthy food policies (α = .73)	Formal or informal policies on access to healthy food options (and discouragement of unhealthy options)	This school has a formal or informal policy or practice requiring or recommending that fruits and vegetables be made available to students whenever food is sold	66.1%	4.78 (1.58)	0–7
This school has a formal or informal policy or practice requiring or recommending that healthful beverages be made available to students whenever beverages are offered or sold	71%
This school has a formal or informal policy or practice requiring or recommending junk foods be prohibited in school settings	43.5%
This school has a formal or informal policy or practice prohibiting advertising for candy, fast food, or soft drinks on school property	21%
Staff at this school prohibit or discourage use of food or food coupons as rewards for student behavior and/or performance	38.7%
This school provides information to students on the impact of health on school performance	58.1%
This school provides information in the cafeteria and other food service locations on nutrition education	51.6%
Restrictions on access to competitive foods (α = .70)	Restrictive policies and practices for unhealthy competitive foods (i.e., vending, fundraising, school store sales)	This school has a formal or informal policy or practice restricting times when certain beverages can be sold in school venues	38.7%	1.93 (1.19)	0–4
This school has a formal or informal policy or practice restricting times when junk foods can be sold in school venues	41.9%
This school has a formal or informal policy or practice restricting times when students can access vending machines	35.5%
This school offers healthy options in vending machines	14.5%
Recess policies (α = .70)	Regular access to recess	This school provides regularly scheduled recess after student lunch periods	56.5%	1.12 (0.77)	0–2
Teachers at this school sometimes exclude students from recess as punishment for bad behaviorb	67.7%
Student health services (α = .68)	Coordinated health services for students (i.e., body mass index screening, health counseling, school health centers)	This school provides nutrition and dietary behavior counseling	16.1%	0.85 (0.94)	0–3
This school provides physical activity and fitness counseling	19.4%
This school provides student services for health conditions related to nutrition or weight management	37.1%
Staff development practices (α = .84)	Initiatives targeted at improving staff health and nutrition	This school offers professional development for staff in nutrition and dietary behavior	29%	0.92 (1.16)	0–3
The school offers professional development for staff in physical activity and fitness	29%
The school offers professional development for staff in weight management	22.6%

^aThis item was not included in the PE policy category sum due to lower resulting internal consistency when combined with the rest of the PE items.

^bThese items were reverse coded in analyses.