West Virginia Healthy Lifestyles Act of 2005

Provisions

The act, introduced as House Bill 2816, contains five school-based mandates: health education assessments, fitness assessments, physical education, body mass index (BMI) assessments, and the availability of healthy beverages in schools. It restricts elementary, middle, and junior high schools from selling soft drinks in student-accessible areas during the school day. High schools may sell soft drinks in vending machines only if they also offer healthy drink options and at least fifty percent of available drinks are healthy.

The law requires that seventy-five percent of profits from healthy beverage and soft drink sales be allocated by a majority vote of each school's faculty senate, and twenty-five percent be allocated by the principal for necessary supplies. The act also created the Office of Healthy Lifestyles within the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, a partnership to encourage healthy lifestyles, and the Healthy Lifestyles Fund.

Implementation and funding

The school-based elements of the policy were implemented beginning in 2006. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided funding to evaluate the legislation and its impact. Carole Harris, a professor of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry at West Virginia University, conducted research evaluating the act and the state board of education's school nutrition standards. Harris noted that participation in health education and fitness testing improved, but approximately forty percent of schools cannot meet one or more of the five mandates, often due to inadequate staffing or facilities.