The Association Between School Health Promotion Programs and School Wellness Policies.

Objective: Determine school wellness policy quality and evaluate the association between health promotion programs on school wellness policy quality.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 344 school districts in Oklahoma, a south-central region of the US. Secondary data including school districts' participation in health promotion programs for school years 2015 and 2016 and school wellness policy scores were used for this study. Descriptive statistics and Cohen d were used in the analysis.

Results: School wellness policies had a mean comprehensiveness score of 43.7% and a mean strength score of 21.8%. The presence of ≥3 health promotion programs had a small effect (Cohen d range = 0.20 to 0.48) on school wellness policy scores.

Conclusions And Implications: School wellness policies have room for improvement in both comprehensiveness and strength. Engagement in ≥3 health promotion programs may contribute to improved policy quality.