November 5, 2007

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Complete the Streets (website)
http://www.completestreets.org/

The streets of our cities and towns ought to be for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper.

But too many of our streets are designed only for speeding cars, or worse, creeping traffic jams. They’re unsafe for people on foot or bike — and unpleasant for everybody …

Impediments to Walking as a Mode Choice
http://tinyurl.com/33umql

Conducted in 2005, this study evaluates a case-control design of contrasts between walkers and drivers to address factors influencing the uptake of walking as a mode choice.

With samples drawn from Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand, this research uses a 62-item survey to examine a number of factors …

Neighborhood Design and Aging: An Empirical Analysis in Northern California
http://tinyurl.com/2zgam5

The low mobility of seniors may be due in part to a history of auto-oriented transportation and land use policy decisions.

More recently, land use policies that make it possible to drive less show promise of effectiveness for the population as a whole. However, little attention has been paid to the implications of such policies for older people.

CANCER

BMI and Cancer: "Poor Diet Ratchets Up Cancer Risk”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071101.
wcancer1101/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

Excess fat can cause up to a third of all cases, study says, putting lifestyle choices on par with quitting smoking

CHILDREN

Eat Right Be Active
The Nutrition Resource Centre has recently released two new resources called Eat Right Be Active. Developed as part of Ontario's Action Plan for Healthy Eating and Active Living, these guides assist families, caregivers and professionals to support healthy eating and physical activity in the early years.

• The guide for children ages three to five is available at
  http://www.nutritionrc.ca/resources/
  erba-eng-3-5_01OC07.pdf
• The guide for children ages six to eight is available at
  http://www.nutritionrc.ca/resources/
  erba-eng-6-8_01OC07.pdf

Healthy Children, Healthy Communities
http://www.unac.org/hchc/files/
Talkingbacksm.pdf

Over the past year, the United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-Canada) has visited urban and rural communities across the country listening to children and child health stakeholders voice their opinions on the social and economic factors that affect children's health.

Through community roundtables and surveys, they have exchanged perceptions and priorities on factors like income, housing, social supports, racism, education, gender and the built environment.

Linking in with the physical, emotional and mental sides of health, we have covered a complex field of interconnected issue such as risk behaviour, obesity, emotional wellbeing and stress …

WORKPLACE

Get Moving at Work: A Resource Kit for Workplace Health and Wellbeing Programs
http://www.getmoving.tas.gov.au/article.php?article_id=138

This Australian resource includes a kit and an audit tool (among other things).