UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER NOTES
“Promoting Health through Physical Activity”

The American Public Health Association’s (APHA) annual meeting just adjourned and the Physical Activity Special Primary Interest Group (PA SPIG) was visible and busy!  We had a business meeting, evening social, 5K fun run/walk, water fitness class, and a host of scientific sessions.  However, we have much more work to do!  You are invited to become a member of APHA and affiliate with the PA SPIG, whose mission is to provide a visible and credible home within APHA for PA researchers, practitioners, advocates and partners, help close the gap between science and practice, and integrate PA into APHA’s advocacy efforts.  You can learn more by going to the PA SPIG web page at http://www.apha.org/membergroups/primary/aphaspigwebsites/physical/

Our goal over the next three years is to have 250 or more APHA members as affiliates, and you can sign up by going to www.apha.org and then linking to the online membership form and selecting the PA SPIG as your primary affiliation in the Section/SPIG drop down menu.  If you are already an APHA member, you can also affiliate with the PA SPIG by accessing your personal membership file and either changing your primary affiliation or selecting the PA SPIG as a secondary affiliation.  Students are also welcome to join! 

Steve Hooker, PhD, Director
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Bicycle Blog RSS Feed; Seeking SRTS Programs; Tennis in the Parks Initiative; American Diabetes Month

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON: Update on Senate Climate Bill; Livable Communities Task Force

RESEARCH NOTES: 8 Steps to Fitness; An Economic Evaluation of Health-Promotive Built Environment Changes; Prospective Study of Urban Form and Physical Activity in the Black Women's Health Study

REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES: Physical Activity Research Center for Public Heath; New Pedestrian Safety Ranking Calls for Complete Streets; Toolkit Helps Employers Promote Healthy Child Weight

PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES: Alliance Awards $104,000 in Grants; Simple Steps Get Walkers Moving; Physical Activity and Socio-Economic Status

SCHOOLS: Two Featured Resources from Safe Routes to School; Record Participation for Walk to School Day

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS: Built Environment Assessment Training (BEAT) Institute; Seventh Annual International Council on Active Aging (ICAA)

USC PEVENTION RESEARCH CENTER UPDATES: Position Available

LEAGUE BLOG RSS FEED:  The League's blog is packed with great content ranging from cyclists' rights, the media's sometimes inaccurate portrayal of bicycling, to Congressman Earl Blumenauer biking to work. The League’s board, staff, and occasional guest writers use this blog to sound off about topics near and dear to our hearts: bicycling, bicycling education, bicyclist advocacy, and promoting bicycling. Check out the blog and follow league activities through the Bike League RSS feed: at http://www.bikeleague.org/blog/feed/. [Source: American Bicyclist Update, November 9, 2009]

SEEKING SRTS PROGRAMS: The National SRTS Center is developing a report that describes how SRTS programs are measuring changes in health or the environment. Measures may include looking at physical activity amounts, counting cars arriving at the school campus in order to estimate reductions in pollution, assessing changes in air quality, or other ways to look for potential improvements related to physical or environmental health. If you have a program that attempts to measure such activities, the Center would like to speak with you about what is being measured, how it's being measured and what results, if any, have been collected. Even if you are only in the development stages, they would like to hear about your plans. Please contact Megan Cornog at cornog@hsrc.unc.edu  or (919) 962-7411. [Source: Safe Routes Matters, Sept/Oct 2009

TENNIS IN THE PARKS INITIATIVE: This joint initiative of the USTA and the National Recreation and Park Association has contributed to the resurgence of tennis as a lifelong recreational sport. This partnership makes resources available to help public Parks and Recreation agencies engage more youth and adults in physically active lifestyles through tennis. An addition to available resources is the newly created TIP Peer Advisors, a network of experienced public tennis practitioners from every state to mentor parks and recreation agencies. Read more at http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nrpa/usta.pdf. If you are interested in becoming a TIP Peer Advisor, please visit www.nrpa.org/usta to obtain an application, which should be forwarded to:

United States Tennis Association
Attn: Tennis in the Parks
70 West Red Oak Lane
White Plains, NY 10604
tennisintheparks@usta.com
914-696-7230
914-696-2032 Fax
[Source: Parks and Recreation Weekly News Brief, Nov. 3, 2009]

AMERICAN DIABETES MONTH. November 1-30, 2009. This November, join the American Diabetes Association in a national movement to Stop Diabetes™. Visit the website at http://tinyurl.com/5ytu5

For a list of PA related observances and events, visit the PA links section of our website at http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/PAlinks/index.htm.

<Back to Top>

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON:

UPDATE ON SENATE CLIMATE BILL: FUNDING FOR CLEAN TRANSPORTATION INCREASED IN SENATE BILL. On October 23, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) released the chairman's mark of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733). The allocations announced on the 23rd include a new program to fund transportation projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions. Allocations for clean transportation and smart growth programs would average out to about 2.4% over the life of the bill. Read a fact sheet about this bill at http://preview.tinyurl.com/y9ttug2. [Source: Washington Update: November 2, 2009]

LIVABLE COMMUNITIES TASK FORCE (LCTF). Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR-D) has created the Livable Communities Task Force, a collection of 20 Congressmen who will provide and expedite legislation that builds more livable communities. The LCTF will work to improve our communities through legislation that helps reduce dependence on oil, protect the environment, improve public health, and invest in transportation projects that create jobs and give people more commuting choices. The LCTF will issue a bi-monthly newsletter highlighting events in Washington and important legislative developments. A list of LCTF members can be found on the LCTF website at www.blumenauer.house.gov/livablecommunities. [Source: American Bicyclist Update, October 26, 2009]

<back to top>

RESEARCH NOTES:

8 STEPS TO FITNESS was a faith-based behavior-change intervention promoting PA among members of African American churches. A quasi-experimental design was used to examine differences between the intervention group (n =72) and comparison group (n = 74). Health, psychosocial, and behavioral variables were assessed at baseline, 3- and 6-months. Repeated measures ANCOVAs tested changes across time between groups.  At 3-months, the intervention group showed significantly more favorable changes in BMI, waist circumference and social support than the control group. At 6-months, the intervention group showed significantly more favorable changes in waist to hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, and depressive symptoms. Bopp, Wilcox, Laken, et al. “8 Steps to Fitness: A Faith-Based, Behavior Change Physical Activity Intervention for African Americans.”  Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 6(5), 568–577, 2009.

AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF HEALTH-PROMOTIVE BUILT ENVIRONMENT CHANGES.  The 2001 National Household Travel Survey sample (N = 4,974) from Dane County, Wisconsin, was used to develop a Spatial Seemingly Unrelated Regression model of daily vehicle miles traveled and miles walked or biked. The empirical model was used to analyze the travel impacts of hypothetical built environment changes. Based on the present analyses, an investment of $450 million to make sidewalks available to all Dane County residents was estimated to yield a cost-benefit ratio of 1.87 over a 10-year life cycle.  Guo, Gandavarapu. “An Economic Evaluation of Health-Promotive Built Environment Changes.”Preventive Medicine, In press.

PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF URBAN FORM AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN THE BLACK WOMEN'S HEALTH STUDY. The authors used data from 20,354 women in the Black Women's Health Study to assess the association between neighborhood urban form and PA. For all women, housing density had the strongest association with utilitarian walking (OR = 2.72, 95% CI: 2.22-3.31), followed by availability of public transit. Women who moved during follow-up to neighborhoods of lower density were 36% more likely to decrease their levels of utilitarian walking, and those who moved to neighborhoods of higher density were 23% more likely to increase their levels of utilitarian walking, relative to women who moved to neighborhoods of similar density. Coogan, White, Adler, et al. “Prospective Study of Urban Form and Physical Activity in the Black Women's Health Study.”  American Journal of Epidemiology, 170(9), 1105-1117, 2009.

For additional summaries of recent research on promoting physically active lifestyles, visit the Research Updates section of our website at http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/updates/index.htm.
<back to top>

REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES:

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY RESOURCE CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH (PARC-PH). The Physical Activity Epidemiology group at the University of Pittsburgh has developed the Physical Activity Resource Center for Public Health (PARC-PH). This resource was developed to satisfy the need for a comprehensive center that can provide up–to–date physical activity assessment and intervention information as well as guidance to researchers and community members. Their mission is to support physical activity assessment and lifestyle promotion efforts whether as part of a research or community intervention. Visit the website at http://www.parcph.org/. [Source: CFAH'S DAILY DIGEST: Thursday, October 29, 2009]

NEW PEDESTRIAN SAFETY RANKING CALLS FOR COMPLETE STREETS. A new report ranking the nation's most dangerous metropolitan areas for walking finds that 'incomplete' streets are a major culprit in the deaths of thousands of Americans every year. Dangerous by Design, from Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Policy Project, finds that as many as 40% of fatal pedestrian crashes are in places where no crosswalk was available, and that arterials designed only for cars are the most dangerous. Read the full report at http://preview.tinyurl.com/ybp2ugn. [Source: National Complete Streets Coalition Newsletter, 11/09/09]

TOOLKIT HELPS EMPLOYERS PROMOTE HEALTHY CHILD WEIGHT. It's Everyone's Business (published by the National Business Group on Health with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau) is an action-oriented toolkit designed to help employers address childhood obesity and its implications on health care costs for the current and future work force. It includes examples of how employers can use existing programs or facilities to fight childhood obesity in their communities. A list of resources and relevant websites is also included. The toolkit is available at http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/benefitstopics/et_chobesity.cfm. [Source: MCH Alert, November 6, 2009]

<back to top>

PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES:

ALLIANCE AWARDS $104,000 IN GRANTS. The Alliance for Biking & Walking is awarding $104,000 in grants to five grassroots biking and walking advocacy organizations. The Advocacy Advance Grants will be used to jump-start emerging advocacy organizations and to fund innovative campaigns with the potential to dramatically increase biking and walking. The second round of 2009 grants was extremely competitive with 76 proposals totaling over $1.2 million. Read about the winners at http://preview.tinyurl.com/ychetwb. [American Bicyclist Update, November 9, 2009]

SIMPLE STEPS GET WALKERS MOVING. A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health attempted to increase walking activity in a multicultural housing site in Seattle, WA. Interventions included sponsoring walking groups, improving walking routes, offering information about walking options, and advocating for pedestrian safety. A pre-post study design was used to assess changes in walking activity. Self-reported walking activity increased from 65 to 109 minutes per day. Krieger, J, Rabkin, J, Sharify, D, Song, L. “High Point Walking for Health: Creating Built and Social Environments That Support Walking in a Public Housing Community.” American Journal of Public Health, 99(S3):S593, 2009.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS. Since 2000, many municipalities across Canada have been offering targeted programming and scheduling for families, women and low income groups. What they discovered is that women in disadvantaged circumstances-including immigrant women, multicultural women, low-income women, and single-parent mothers-report that they do not receive enough information about local opportunities for physical activities and sport. Find out what a series of focus groups revealed about what communities can do to promote physical activity among women of low socio-economic status. Read the complete article at
http://www.centre4activeliving.ca/publications/wellspring/2009/oct-low-SES-women.html. [Source: Wellspring, October 2009 20(5)]

<back to top>

SCHOOLS

1: Teaching Children to Walk Safely: Being able to walk safely is an important skill that needs to be developed, starting with hand-held walks. This resource is a guide to help parents and caregivers match their guidance and expectations with their children's abilities. It includes handouts to assist parents in assessing and strengthening their child's pedestrian skills. See: www.saferoutesinfo.org/resources/education_teachingchildren.cfm

2: School Bicycling and Walking Policies: A tip sheet, jointly-developed by the SRTS National Partnership and the National Center for Safe Routes to School, provides simple steps explaining how to approach and overturn barrier policies that prohibit walking and/or bicycling to school, and encouraging supportive policies, which enable bicycling and walking to school programs.
See: www.saferoutesinfo.org/resources/program-development_tip-sheets.cfm

RECORD PARTICIPATION FOR 2009 WALK TO SCHOOL DAY. A record number of communities from all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated in Walk to School Day 2009. A total of 3,369 Walk to School Day events registered through the National Center's Web site -- an increase of 481 events (17%) over last year! Walk to School Day continues to grow in popularity because community members encourage safe walking and bicycling to school. Also, local, regional and national officials joined in local Walk to School Day celebrations nationwide and helped create interest and excitement surrounding scheduled events..." [Source: Safe Routes Matters, September/October 2009]

[Source: Safe Routes to School E-Newsletter, October/November 2009]

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:

BUILT ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT TRAINING (BEAT) INSTITUTE. The Institute of Medicine and other key organizations have identified environment and policy changes as the most promising strategies for controlling obesity and improving diet and physical activity. There are now a variety of measures that can be used by researchers and practitioners to plan and evaluate changes to the built environment.  The BEAT Institute is designed to train participants to use these measures. June 13-18, 2010, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

SEVENTH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ACTIVE AGING (ICAA) Conference, December 2-5, 2009, Orlando, Florida. http://www.icaa.cc/convention.htm

For a more complete list of conferences and workshops, visit the PA links section of our website at http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/PAlinks/index.htm.

USC PRC UPDATES:
POSITION AVAILABLE. The USC Arnold School of Public Health Prevention Research Center is seeking a full-time Community Development Specialist to work with a team in conducting community advocacy and health development projects as part of a community based participatory research project in underserved communities. This is a field staff position located primarily in Sumter with some work in Columbia and some statewide travel in later project years. This is a full-time temporary grant funded position with state employee benefits approved for funding through September 2014. Hours will vary, sometimes requiring evening and occasional weekend work.

To inquire about or apply for this position, contact the USC Division of Human Resources Employment Office:

Website http://hr.sc.edu/employ.html
1. After accessing site, click on USC Jobs
2. Click on Search Postings in left margin
3. In the Department field, use the drop down box to select Prevention Research Center

Email uscjobs@sc.edu; Telephone 803.777.3821

<back to top>

This and past issues of the “University of South Carolina Prevention Research Center Notes” are available on our website at http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/Newsletter/index.htm.

To submit an item, please e-mail Marsha Stepp at mstepp@mailbox.sc.edu.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, e-mail the Prevention Research Center at USCPRC@mailbox.sc.edu. When subscribing, please include your name, e-mail address, title, and organizational affiliation. There is no subscription cost. If you have an e-mail filter in place that only allows messages from approved email addresses, please add uscprc@gwm.sc.edu to your approved list.

For continuing discussions about physical activity, join the Physical Activity and Public Health On-Line Network listserv. Instructions are located on our website, at http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/newsletter/commands.htm.

The USC Prevention Research Center is a member of the CDC Prevention Research Center's National Network, consisting of 33 Centers in the U.S. For more information about the PRC National Network, visit http://www.cdc.gov/prc.

Prevention Research Center
Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina
921 Assembly Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29208
803-777-4253

This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 5-U48-DP-000051 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC.

The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in educational or employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status.