May - June 2011 | USC-PRC Notes
“Promoting Health through Physical Activity”
It is my distinct pleasure to notify you that Dr. Sara Wilcox has agreed to serve as interim Director of the USC PRC beginning May 16, 2011. Sara has been a co-investigator and affiliated with the USC PRC in some manner since 2001. She is capable in every way as an administrator and research scientist to keep the USC PRC headed in the right direction until a national search is conducted for a permanent Director. Once again, I wish to express my appreciation to all those who made my time as USC PRC Director highly enjoyable and productive. It has been an experience I will never forget, and one that will provide a strong foundation for all of my endeavors at Arizona State University. Good health, good cheer and success to all of you until we meet again!
Steve Hooker, PhD, Director
IN THIS ISSUE – MAY- JUNE 2011
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Let’s Move! Flash Workout; Walkability Presentation; Physical Activity and Public Health Courses; National Bike Month; National Physical Fitness and Sports Month; National Bike to Work Week; National Bike to Work Day; YMCA Healthy Kids Day
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON: Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding at Risk?
RESEARCH NOTES: Physical Activity Guidelines and Mortality Risk; Physical Activity Attitudes among African Americans; Community Wide Physical Activity Interventions
REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES: Americans Want Walkable Neighborhoods; NCPPA.ORG Resources and Reports; Parks and Playgrounds Grant Opportunity
PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES:Bike, Walk, and Wheel Week in Columbia, Missouri; Complete Streets Part of a Broad Plan in Dubuque, Iowa
UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:World Congress on Exercise is Medicine/American College of Sports Medicine Annual Conference; 2011 Annual Meeting of the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
USC PEVENTION RESEARCH CENTER UPDATES: Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Best Practices Award
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
LET’S MOVE! FLASH WORKOUT: The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation recently organized a "Let's Move! Flash Workout" featuring 16-time Grammy Award winner Beyoncé to demonstrate support for First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative aimed at curbing childhood obesity. Over 600 schools nationwide participated in the flash workout on May 3rd, and First Lady Michelle Obama stopped by Alice Deal Middle School in Washington, DC to check out their event and did some dancing herself.
[Sources: http://www.nabef.org/and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYP4MgxDV2U]
WALKABILITY PRESENTATION: Dan Burden, an internationally recognized authority on bicycle and pedestrian facilities and programs, livability, sustainability and smart growth, recently spoke at a TEDx conference in Manhattan Beach, California. TED conferences are a set of global meetings to disseminate ‘ideas worth spreading.’ In Mr. Burden’s presentation, he makes the case for creating communities that are centered on people and not cars.
[Source:http://www.youtube.com/]
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH COURSES: The deadline for applying for the 2011 Physical Activity and Public Health (PAPH) Courses is May 15. The PAPH courses include an 8-day Postgraduate Course on Research Directions and Strategies and a 6-day Practitioner's Course on Community Interventions. The faculty for the courses are composed of nationally recognized experts in public health research and practice. This year the courses will be held September 13-21 in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
[Source: http://www.sph.sc.edu/paph/]
National Bike Month
May 1-31, 2011
http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/
National Physical Education and Sports Week
May 1-7, 2011
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/advocacy/events/mayWeek/index.cfm
National Bike to Work Week
May 16-20, 2011
http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/
National Bike to Work Day
May 20, 2011
http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/
YMCA Healthy Kids Day
June 5, 2011
http://www.ymca-ywca.com/healthy_kids_day/
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON:
BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN FUNDING AT RISK? As part of the budget compromise reach by Republicans and Democrats in April, the two parties agreed to rescind $2.5 billion in unspent transportation funds. According to the League of American Bicyclists, when a similar situation occurred last year bicycling and walking projects were disproportionally targeted for these rescissions. To learn more, see the League of American Bicyclists website below.
[Source: http://www.advocacyadvance.org/]
RESEARCH NOTES:
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GUIDELINES AND MORTALITY RISK: This paper examined the all-cause mortality risks associated with the levels of physical activity outlined in the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults. The authors analyzed physical activity data from the 1997-2004 National Health Interview Survey matched with death records occurring from 1997-2006. Healthy adults meeting the physical activity guidelines for both strength and aerobic activities experienced 27-41% reductions in mortality, with the biggest reductions among those older than age 65. The largest reductions mortality overall were among adults with at least one chronic health condition. Individuals in this group meeting guidelines for both aerobic and strength activities experienced reductions in mortality of 25-48%, again with the largest decreases among those older than age 65.
Schoenborn and Stommel (2011). "Adherence to the 2008 Adult Physical Activity Guidelines and Mortality Risk." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 40(5): 514-521.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ATTIDUES AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS: Despite the benefits of physical activity, large numbers of US adults are physically inactive, with African Americans having the lowest prevalence of physical activity among major ethnic groups. This study examined the association of attitudes, beliefs, and leisure-time activity among 807 African Americans using data from a national telephone poll. The authors found in both men and women perceived ‘personal importance of exercise’ and ‘necessity of exercise for health’ as factors associated with physical activity. Additionally, ‘having enough activity space’ was also associated with physical activity among women. By understanding these factors, successful physical activity interventions can be developed.
Affuso, Cox, Durant and Allison (2011). "Attitudes and beliefs associated with leisure-time physical activity among African American adults." Ethnicity and Disease 21(1): 63-67.
COMMUNITY WIDE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INTERVENTIONS: Community wide physical activity interventions are becoming increasingly popular due to their multi-component strategies for eliciting behavior change. Despite this increase in use, few studies have evaluated the impact of community wide physical activity interventions based on evidence currently available. This Cochrane Review identified 25 studies that met their inclusion criteria, with 17 of these studies set in low income countries or low socioeconomic communities. The authors state “we observed that there was a lack of good studies which could show whether this approach was or wasn’t beneficial.” Future research in this area should focus on improved study design, improved quality of physical activity measures, and larger samples of participants.
Baker, Francis, Soares, et al. (2011). "Community wide interventions for increasing physical activity." Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 4: CD008366.
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.
REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES:
AMERICANS WANT WALKABLE NEIGHBORHOODS: A new survey of 2,074 adults by the National Association of REALTORS® shows that Americans prefer smart growth neighborhoods over those that are heavily dependent on driving. The results of the survey show 77% of respondents look for pedestrian friendly features such as abundant sidewalks, and 80% would sacrifice square footage in their home for a shorter commute. The Community Preference Survey highlights that 56% of Americans prefer more walkable neighborhoods with a mix of nearby destinations to those that require more driving.
[Source: http://www.realtor.org/]
NCPPA.ORG RESOURCES AND REPORTS: The National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity has assembled a variety of physical activity fact sheets, tools, and reports on their website. Appropriately titled “Resources & Reports,” this section of ncppa.org features an incredible amount of information helpful for any physical activity practitioner.
[Source: http://ncppa.org/resources/aboutRR/]
PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS GRANT OPPORTUNITY: The Stewardship Council has made available up to $1.2 million to improve community parks and open spaces to make them more usable for children. Proposals will be accepted until July 29, 2011 for projects that will greatly improve park infrastructure and result in creating a more welcoming environment, with an emphasis for those which will addresses lack of space for underserved children and youth. Proposals which involve existing facilities and creating new facilities with broad community impact will have priority.
[Source: http://youth.stewardshipcouncil.org]
PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES:
BIKE, WALK, AND WHEEL WEEK IN COLUMBIA, MISSOURI: For the tenth straight year, PedNet Coalition in Columbia, Missouri is sponsoring the Mayor’s Challenge: Bike, Walk, and Wheel Week May 14-21, as part of National Bike Week. Included among the numerous events scheduled during the week are ‘Bike or Hike to Church Sunday!’, ‘Family Fun Fest/Fitness is Fun’, ‘Walk to School Day’, and the ever popular ‘Breakfast Station Day’ where free breakfast is provided at 11 locations throughout Columbia for those biking and walking to work or school. These events celebrate May as National Bike Month.
[Source:http://www.pednet.org/programs/bike-walk-wheel-week.asp]
COMPLETE STREETS PART OF A BROAD PLAN IN DUBUQUE: The river town of Dubuque, Iowa has become the fourth city in Iowa to adopt a Complete Streets policy. The resolution had broad support from many groups, including: the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Council, Green Dubuque, Proudly Accessible Dubuque, the Long Range Planning Advisory Council, the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, and Tri-State Trail Vision. The Complete Streets resolution is the latest step in a reinvestment push in the Historic Millwork District involving a $5.6 million federal grant and a $150,000 Iowa Great Places grant.
[Sources: http://www.completestreets.org/ and http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=315821]
UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:
World Congress on Exercise is Medicine/
American College of Sports Medicine Annual Conference
May 31- June 4, 2011Denver, CO
http://www.acsmannualmeeting.org/
2011 Annual Meeting of the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
June 15-18, 2011
Victoria, Australia
http://www.isbnpa2011.org/
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:
CBPR BEST PRACTICES AWARD: The University of South Carolina Prevention Research Center (PRC) is one of 11 PRC’s that have been awarded the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Best Practices Award by the National Community Committee. This award recognizes the USC’s PRC’s endeavors to fulfill the principles of CBPR in its research activities. To read more about the award and view the other distinguished recipients, click on the link below.
[Source:http://fridayletter.asph.org/]
Writer: Robin Shook
This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number U48-DP-001936 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.
