QUARTER 3: July - September 2023 | USC-PRC Notes

"Promoting Health through Physical Activity"

Topics in this issue

A LETTER FROM OUR DIRECTOR

USC PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER UPDATES:

  • Update from the USC PRC Core Research Project
  • Update from the USC PRC
  • Update from the South Carolina Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network III

NEWS YOU CAN USE:

  • Alabama Physical Activity and Nutrition Plan
  • Addressing Systems Change with Safe Routes to Parks Grantees
  • How Fitness Benefits Help Prevent Burnout and Foster an Engaged Workforce

UPCOMING EVENTS AND OBSERVANCES

  • October, November, December

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON: 

  • ICYMI: The Biden-Harris President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition First Annual Meeting
  • Major Milestone for Physical Activity Alliance's 'It's Time to Move' Campaign

RESEARCH NOTES:

  • Association Between Physical Activity and Body Posture: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
  • Physical Activity Among Adolescent Cancer Survivors: The PACCS Study
  • Can Quantifying the Relative Intensity of a Person’s Free-living Physical Activity Predict How They Respond to a Physical Activity Intervention? Findings from the PACES RCT
  • Joint Associations of Physical Activity and Sleep Duration with Cognitive Aging: Longitudinal Analysis of an English Cohort Study

REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES:

  • HHS Releases Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Implementation Strategies for Older Adults  
  • WEBINAR: Sidewalk Inventories: A Tool for Equity and ADA Compliance

PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES:

  • Physical Activity Intervention on Cognitive Development of Young Children in Low Socioeconomic Areas
  • Instructional Physical Activity Program Summit
  • Walk Across Texas Challenge Gets People Moving

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:

  • October, November, December

A LETTER FROM OUR DIRECTOR:

Greetings!

What a month this has been!  On September 25, after nearly a year of planning, we concluded the Physical Activity and Public Health training courses. The research course was 7 days, and the practitioner course was 4 days. We had 30 Research Fellows and 13 Practitioners from all over the nation and beyond (Australia, Spain, and Botswana!). Faculty from across the country also attended and interacted with course participants from breakfast to post-dinner every day.
 
I am so lucky to have been a 1998 course graduate, and now a co-director of the research course and director of the practitioner course. Although the week was exhausting, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with smart, eager, and passionate people who were all committed to making a difference in the area of physical activity and public health. I also had fun reconnecting with colleagues who I had not seen in a year or more. It is amazing to have a job where I continually get to learn from others, all with unique perspectives and experiences, and incorporate these learnings into my research and teaching. Our hands-on activities in the practitioner’s course (e.g., street and park audits) also challenged me to think more about where I live and the factors that facilitate and impede physical activity, and how these barriers can be reduced so that ALL people can live healthier.
 
I wish you a good start to Fall. I hope that you see and take advantage of opportunities to learn and grow in your work and personal life.

-Sara Wilcox

USC PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER UPDATES:

Update from the USC PRC

The University of South Carolina Prevention Research Center (USC PRC) turned 30 this year! The USC PRC received funding in 1993 and has maintained its status as a PRC continuously over the last three decades through competitive funding applications to the CDC. Currently, the USC PRC is one of 26 Centers funded by the CDC across the nation. The first USC PRC Director was Dr. Carol Macera, and since that time, the Center has been directed by Dr. Barbara Ainsworth, Dr. Steven Hooker, and currently Dr. Sara Wilcox, who has served in this role since 2011. Over the past 30 years, the USC PRC has focused on physical activity and public health, with an expansion to also include healthy eating in more recent years. The Center has maintained a strong commitment to engaging communities and addressing health disparities. Its core research projects have included focus areas of physical activity and the built environment, physical activity and policy change, community-based walking interventions, and faith-based interventions.

Update from USC PRC SIP Projects

Dementia Risk Reduction SIP Project
The USC Arnold School of Public Health's Emotion, Cognition, and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Lab is recruiting African Americans who are 60 years old or over for a research study about the correlation between walking and reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias. Study participants will engage in 24 walking sessions over 12 weeks, and each session will consist of an individual 30-minute mindful walk around the South Carolina State House grounds, playing brain games to test cognitive abilities on a smartphone, and answering survey questions. Participants who fulfill all requirements for the study will earn up to $160 in monetary compensation. For more information about the ECHO Lab’s work, please contact Dr. Jason Yang (CY11@mailbox.sc.edu)

Update from the South Carolina Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (SC-CPCRN) III

group picutre CPCRN Community Mini-Grant Update: Project Quickstart of the Health and Wellness Committee for Trinity Baptist Church hosted a prayer breakfast on Saturday, Sep 16th, 2023.  The breakfast featured a panel discussion by African American specialty physicians focused on those cancers which have the largest African American disparities:  breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancers.  Drs. Gorman (Dorn VA Medical Center), Prophet (South Carolina Oncology Associates), and Wise (retired, South Carolina Oncology Associates) presented information on screening and treatment for these cancers as well as answered questions posed by the audience.  The program was well attended and received as well as prompting lively discussion among participants.

NEWS YOU CAN USE:

Alabama Physical Activity and Nutrition Plan

The Alabama Physical Activity and Nutrition Plan (ALPAN), was recently released by the Alabama Wellness Alliance. ALPAN was created to help address the state’s low rates of physical activity, poor nutrition, and increasing rates of obesity and chronic diseases, with a focus on addressing health disparities. ALPAN will act as a guide to implementing evidence-based strategies to improve long-term health for state residents. Access to ALPAN and additional resources can be found on Alabama Public Health’s site.
[SOURCE: Alabama Public Health]

Addressing Systems Change with Safe Routes to Parks Grantees

Safe Routes Partnership shares successes from grant recipients of their Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program. These grant recipients use awarded funds to address systems change in their local communities by working to create safe and equitable access to local parks and greenspaces. Strategies used by the grantees are based upon a systems change model, adapted from the FSG consulting firm. This framework focuses on identifying systems and environments that enable issues, like non-equitable park access, to persist. Safe Routes provides five examples of their adapted systems change model being used in communities across the nation. Additional information on the Safe Routes Partnership’s Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program or their systems change model can be found on their site.
[SOURCE: Safe Routes Partnership]

How Fitness Benefits Help Prevent Burnout and Foster an Engaged Workforce

Recognizing the connection between business success and the physical health of employees is key for boosting productivity in the workplace, enhancing employee engagement, and decreasing the risk of burnout. As defined by the World Health Organization, burnout happens when an employee has depleted energy or exhaustion, feelings of negativism towards their job, and a reduction in job effectiveness. By incorporating personalized AI fitness plans for employees, employees’ preferences, needs, and fitness goals can be tailored to create exercise routines, including suitable intensity levels and plan adaptations unique to the employee. AI-powered personalized fitness plans can help boost activity, improving employee productivity in the workplace.
[SOURCE: Benefits Pro]

UPCOMING EVENTS AND OBSERVANCES:

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON:

ICYMI: The Biden-Harris President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition First Annual Meeting

The first meeting of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition was held this past June. This council is tasked with working to improve the nation’s health through education, engagement, and empowering all citizens to live healthier lifestyles. During this open meeting, the Physical Activity Guidelines Midcourse Report: Implementation Strategies for Older Adults was also released. This midcourse report highlights strategies for policymakers and professionals in varying sectors to improve physical activity among the nation’s older adult population. This meeting provided council members the opportunity to make introductions and discuss the council’s goals and priorities. More information on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition and their upcoming activities can be found on their site.
[Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services]

Major Milestone for Physical Activity Alliance's 'It's Time to Move' Campaign

The Physical Activity Implementation Guide (PAIG) is now published and available. The PAIG allows electronic healthcare systems to exchange information on patient physical activity. This is a major step to normalizing physical activity data as a standard measure among various users, including professional and community organizations. Those that implement the PAIG will be crucial in helping to improve the guide’s effectiveness. More information about The Physical Activity Alliance’s It’s Time to Move Campaign and the PAIG can be found on their respective sites.
[Source: Physical Activity Alliance]

RESEARCH NOTES:

Association Between Physical Activity and Body Posture: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

A sedentary and inactive lifestyle can lead to many health risks, including postural changes. Conversely, research has found that a physically active lifestyle is associated with many health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure and improving mental health. Additionally, a correct, upright posture has been linked to better musculoskeletal health, while poorer posture may be related to worse health outcomes. As many types of physical activity can help improve musculoskeletal strength, several research studies have been conducted to investigate whether physical activity can help improve posture, especially for posterior muscles. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors evaluated ten studies that examined possible correlations between body posture and physical activity. The results of this meta-analysis found significant but weak correlations between levels of physical activity and postural alignment in the studies' participants. Overall, the included studies found that several other biopsychosocial factors could influence body posture more than just physical activity levels. While there are many benefits of regular physical activity, there is not enough evidence yet to suggest that physical activity alone will lead to improved body posture.
[Source: Salsali, M., Sheikhhoseini, R., Sayyadi, P., Hides, J. A., Dadfar, M., & Piri, H. (2023). Association Between Physical Activity and Body Posture: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. BMC Public Health, 23 (1), 1670. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16617-4]

Physical Activity Among Adolescent Cancer Survivors: The PACCS Study

The scientists in this study aimed to understand levels of physical activity (PA) and sedentary time (ST) in a large and international sample of teenage childhood cancer survivors. They performed a linear regression analysis to assess factors that were associated with moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and ST. They also examined marginal means of total PA, MVPA, and ST between 432 childhood cancer survivors and a sex/age-stratified reference group (2-year intervals) using t-tests for the aggregated data. According to the results, 34% of the survivors fulfilled the World Health Organization’s PA recommendation of up to 60 minutes of daily MVPA on average, and ST was 8.7 hours per day. The low PA and high ST levels in this sample of adolescent childhood cancer survivors are concerning. The results call for targeted interventions to address PA and ST in follow-up care for those after childhood cancer.
[Source: May Grydeland, Mari Bratteteig, Corina S. Rueegg, Hanne C. Lie, Lene Thorsen, Elna H. Larsen, Sabine Brügmann-Pieper, Ingrid K. Torsvik, Miriam Götte, Päivi M. Lähteenmäki, Susi Kriemler, Martin K. Fridh, Sigmund A. Anderssen, Ellen Ruud; Physical Activity Among Adolescent Cancer Survivors: The PACCS Study. Pediatrics September 2023; 152 (3): e2023061778. 10.1542/peds.2023-061778]

Can Quantifying the Relative Intensity of a Person’s Free-living Physical Activity Predict How They Respond to a Physical Activity Intervention? Findings from the PACES RCT

In this secondary analysis study, researchers hypothesized that those that have free-living physical activity at a low relative intensity are more likely to increase physical activity (PA) in an intervention, since they have more physical capacity. The participants (N = 239) were 86% male and had an average age of 66.4 years. The two groups, control (N = 126) and intervention (N=113), wore accelerometers for seven days and completed an incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) at baseline and 12 months. The PA outcomes were volume and absolute intensity gradient. According to the findings, those that have low relative intensity of PA were more likely to increase their absolute PA intensity gradient in response to an intervention.
[Source: Rowlands, A. V., Orme, M. W., Maylor, B., Kingsnorth, A., Herring, L., Khunti, K., Davies, M., & Yates, T. (2023). Can quantifying the relative intensity of a person's free-living physical activity predict how they respond to a physical activity intervention? Findings from the PACES RCT. British Journal of Sports Medicine, bjsports-2023-106953. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-106953]

Joint Associations of Physical Activity and Sleep duration with Cognitive Aging: Longitudinal Analysis of an English Cohort Study

Physical activity (PA) and sleep have been associated with cognitive functioning (CF). Despite this, how PA and sleep interact to influence CF and risk of conditions like dementia is still unknown. In a study using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, 8958 healthy adults aged at least 50 years old were followed from baseline to 10 years later with a follow-up interview every two years. Participants were interviewed about their PA habits and sleep duration and assessed for cognitive functions including episodic memory and verbal fluency (to determine composite PA, sleep, and cognitive scores). Results found that poor sleep and low PA were associated with poor cognitive performance, whereas short sleep duration was associated with faster cognitive decline. At baseline, those with higher PA and optimal sleep had better cognitive performance; however, at 10 years, those with high PA and short sleep duration showed faster cognitive decline comparable to those with low PA, regardless of sleep duration. Researchers found that high levels of PA were not enough to offset the increased cognitive decline of suboptimal sleep, and that future interventions should consider the importance of sleep, in addition to PA, to improve cognitive health.
[Source: Bloomberg, M., Brocklebank, L., Hamer, M., & Steptoe, A. (2023). Joint Associations of Physical Activity and Sleep Duration with Cognitive Ageing: Longitudinal Analysis of an English Cohort Study. The Lancet. Healthy Longevity, 4(7), e345–e353. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(23)00083-1]

REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES:

HHS Releases Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Implementation Strategies for Older Adults

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), released their midcourse report on evidence-based strategies for improving elderly adults physical activity. This report expands on the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and provides additional context and resources for supporting elderly U.S. adults in living healthier and more active lifestyles. The resources within the midcourse report can be used across different sectors and be implemented by a multitude of stakeholders. The Midcourse Report: Implementation Strategies for Older Adults can be accessed here.
[Source: HHS]

WEBINAR: Sidewalk Inventories: A Tool for Equity and ADA Compliance

America Walks has made their Sidewalk Inventories: A Tool for Equity and ADA Compliance webinar available on their site. Held on July 26th of this year, a panel of national experts shared their insights and lessons learned in a conversation aimed to highlight the importance of sidewalk inventories and creating equitable communities. The webinar recording and additional resources can be found on the America Walks site.
[Source: America Walks]

PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES:

Physical Activity Intervention on Cognitive Development of Young Children in Low Socioeconomic Areas

In Western Massachusetts, kinesiologist Dr. Alhassan (University of Massachusetts Amherst, School of Public Health & Health Sciences) is partnering with local preschools to bring physical activity programs to the area's underserved children. Dr. Alhassan aims to address local health disparities by creating a gross motor skill physical activity program to help improve the cognitive development of the children enrolled (aged 3-5 years) in local underserved community preschools. Dr. Alhassan’s goal is to create an intervention that can be easily adopted into preschool learning systems and help eliminate formative disparities in childhood cognitive function. Dr. Alhassan’s pilot work will be funded through a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Department.
[Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst]

Instructional Physical Activity Program Summit

The University of North Carolina Wilmington College of Health & Human Services is holding the Instructional Physical Activity Program Summit from October 5-6. The UNCW College of Health & Human Services and other strategic partnerships share the purpose of improving health and quality of life for people, families, and communities. This interactive (and free) summit will have speakers, workshops, panels, and ways for Instructional Physical Activity Programs (IPAP) professionals to interact with colleagues. They also offer a free pre-summit activity, a Kayaking Adventure that will have sign-ups closer to the event, with a price of $40 per person. Lunch will be provided on both days, and it is free for all to attend.
[Source: University of North Carolina Wilmington]

Walk Across Texas challenge gets people moving

Texans of all ages, backgrounds, and fitness levels are welcome to join the free eight-week web-based community program, which is a friendly competition between teams to virtually walk across the 832 miles of the state of Texas. Miles are tracked and logged, and whichever team walks the farthest is declared the winner. However, the primary goal is for all participants to get active and start a walking fitness program. Walk Across Texas was published in BMC Public Health, finding that throughout the eight-week program, self-reported physical activity increased, with individuals increasing their mileage by almost 5 miles each week.
[SOURCE: Texas A&M AGRILIFE

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Writers: Jasmin Parker-Brown, Kaylin Daniels, and Jenna Dzwierzynski

To submit an item, please e-mail the USC PRC at uscprc@mailbox.sc.edu.

To subscribe to this newsletter, send an email to listserv@listserv.sc.edu. In the body of the e-mail type: SUBSCRIBE PRCNEWS yourfirstname yourlastname,  as in: "SUBSCRIBE PRCNEWS  Joe H. Smith".  Alternatively, if you want to subscribe anonymously, send the command:  "SUBSCRIBE PRCNEWS Anonymous". Your subscription will then be hidden automatically.

NOTE: Do not include any other text in the message, including any electronic signature. Once you have subscribed to the newsletter, you will be e-mailed a welcome message. Please save the e-mail for future reference.

To unsubscribe to this newsletter, send an email to listserv@listserv.sc.edu. In the body of the e-mail type: SIGNOFF PRCNEWS.  Again, do not include any other text in the message. 

There is no subscription cost for the newsletter. If you have an e-mail filter in place that only allows messages from approved email addresses, please add uscprc@mailbox.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.

This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number U48DP006401 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.