Immunizations, Health & Wellness

Wellness-Building Healthy Lives

IMMUNIZATIONS

California schools are required to check immunization records for all new student admissions at TK/K through 12th grade and all students advancing to 7th grade before entry. Parents must show their child's Immunization record as proof of immunization. For more information see Shots for School.

Beginning January 1, 2021 all new medical exemptions for school and child care entry must be issued through CAIR-ME. Medical exemptions can only be issued by MDs or DOs licensed in California and must meet applicable Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) criteria. For more information on medical exemptions visit: CDPH-Immunization Branch.

 WELLNESS COMMITTEE

The District Wellness Committee provides support in implementing Board Policy 5030: Student Wellness. The Wellness Committee advises the district on health-related issues, activities, policies, and programs. The intent of the Student Wellness Policy is to ensure that all school environments promote healthy eating and physical activities for district students.

 The Student Wellness Policy contains three main components:

• Nutrition
• Nutrition Education
• Physical Education

Foods and beverages sold to students through the district’s child nutrition program, student stores, vending machines, and fundraisers meet or exceed state and federal nutrition standards. Nutrition education is provided as a part of the health education program as well as the before and after school programs. Opportunities for physical activity are provided through physical education, recess, school athletic programs, extracurricular programs, and before and after school programs. 

NUTRITION

Fresh from the Garden

Eating food in season -- fresh from the farmers market -- is a great way to introduce yourself to new foods and the people who grow them.  It is also more nutritious and earth friendly to eat locally grown, freshly picked fruits and vegetables.  For more on fresh garden produce, go to: Eat the Seasons

The Oceanside Morning Farmers Market provides access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food, while helping support our area farms. Visit the Main Street Oceanside website for more information. It's open Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pier View way and Coast Highway in Oceanside. 

 Tips to Healthy Cooking

• Use olive, avocado, or vegetable oil instead of lard or animal fat
• Bake or air fry instead of deep fry
• Fresh is better than canned
• Try spices in place of salt

The internet abounds with healthy recipes to suit every taste and dietary preference. Cook-along videos make cooking easy and fun. Be sure to have adult supervision in the kitchen and try to include fresh produce whenever possible!

 OUSD Nutrition

The OUSD Child Nutrition Services provides choices for healthy meals. During the school closures due to the pandemic, Nutrition Services continued to provide meals to families.  Please visit the Nutrition Services webpage for more information and school meal menus.

FITNESS

How much Physical Activity do Children Need?

Children and adolescents should do sixty minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans set up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Parents should make sure their child is having fun, participating in a variety of age appropriate activities, and including activity that falls into each of the following categories:  aerobic, muscle strengthening, and bone strengthening.

Aerobic activity should make up most of your child’s sixty minutes or more of physical activity during the day.  This can include moderate activity such as brisk walking or vigorous activity such as running.  Children need vigorous aerobic activity at least three days per week.  Muscle strengthening activities such as push ups, chin ups, or climbing the monkey bars and bone strengthening activities such as jump roping and hopscotch should also be included at least three days per week. 

How do you know if your child’s aerobic activity is moderate or vigorous intensity?  On a scale of 0 to 10, where sitting is a 0 and sprinting is a 10, moderate intensity activity is usually a 5 or 6.  A child participating in moderate activity will have a faster heart beat and will breathe harder than normal.  Vigorous activity is a level 7 or 8 and the child’s heart rate will be much higher and breathing will be much harder than normal. Walking to school with a group of friends is probably moderate activity while playing a game of tag would fall in the vigorous category. 

 For more information on aerobic, muscle, and bone strengthening activities, as well as guidelines on being physically active while social distancing, visit the Centers for Disease Control website.

For more articles on exercise basic needs, age-appropriate exercise, and active living, visit Healthfully.

ZERO WASTE

The City of Oceanside has partnered with the Oceanside Unified School District to commit to the goal of Zero Waste. Through this partnership, OUSD and the City implement their strategies to educate and instill zero waste behaviors in all students and staff. To help reduce waste, students and staff are encouraged to recycle as much as they can.