February 19, 2010

By Rosanne Prinsen MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Walking and Biking Through Minnesota Winters
Information from a course to highlight and explore best local, national and international practices for encouraging year-round non-motorized (walking and cycling) transportation. The course included specific exploration of design, maintenance, and operations practices in similar winter climates, and was convened as a starting point for upcoming conversations exploring improvements to our year-round walking and cycling infrastructure and maintenance practices.

CHILDREN

Childhood Obesity – It’s Everyone’s Business: Separating Fact from Fiction
Includes a list of statements about childhood obesity. Each is identified as either
“fact” or “fiction,” with an explanation of the evidence for the statement.

Encouraging Walking and Bicycling through School Policies

Promoting Optimal Monitoring of Child Growth in Canada: Using the New WHO Growth Charts
Developed collaboratively by the Dietitians of Canada, Canadian Paediatric Society, The College of Family Physicians of Canada and Community Health Nurses of Canada. The statement is intended for use as a practice guideline for health professionals. The desired outcome is the promotion of consistent practices in monitoring growth and assessing patterns of linear growth and weight gain in infants, children and adolescents to support healthy child growth and development.

School Travel Planning Newsletter
News and information about the Canadian school travel planning project.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Coalitions Linking Action & Science for Prevention (CLASP)
More than 30 organizations from across Canada are forming partnerships in a $15.5-million series of initiatives designed to prevent chronic disease. The seven collaborative coalitions are to address such issues as childhood obesity, screening for chronic disease by family doctors, and the unique needs of First Nations communities.

CLASP Phase 1 Report
This report provides a detailed description of the CLASP Phase 1 consultation process as well as an outcome summary from each of the workshops, and an overview of the highest priority opportunities for collaborative action as identified by workshop participants.

The Economic Costs of Overweight, Obesity and Physical Inactivity Among California Adults – 2006.
On July 9, 2009, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) released this report. The study found that the cost of overweight, obesity and physical inactivity had climbed to $41 billion in 2006, nearly double the amount reported in 2000.

Exercise Testing for the Prediction of Cardiac Events in Patients with Diabetes
To assess research evidence on the safety and prognostic value of exercise testing for the prediction of cardiac events in patients with chronic diseases including diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and arthritis.

Getting It Right: Case Studies of Effective Management of Chronic Disease Using
Primary Health Care Teams
Collectively, the five case studies describe a recipe for success for the design and implementation of effective, team-based primary health care for people living with chronic illness.

DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
An Economic Framework for Analysing the Social Determinants of Health and
Health Inequalities
Reducing health inequalities is an important part of health policy in most countries. This paper discusses from an economic perspective how government policy can influence health inequalities, particularly focusing on the outcome of performance targets in England, and the role of sectors of the economy outside the health service – the ‘social determinants’ of health - in delivering these targets.

HEALTH PROMOTION
Can I use this evidence in my program decision? Assessing Applicability and Transferability of Evidence (2007)
Link to Background Paper and Link to Tool
A summary of the current literature, including a process to help you evaluate the feasibility and generalizability of evidence to your public health practice. The associated tool (available separately) helps you make decisions about program priorities in your own community.

Community Health Improvement Resources (CHIR)
A web-based resource for planning, implementing and evaluating interventions to improve the health of a community. You may access information, tools and resources for health conditions and risk factors. Designed for use by public health practitioners and community stakeholders.

Health Disparities Calculator
The Health Disparities Calculator (HD*Calc) is a statistical software designed to generate multiple summary measures to evaluate and monitor health disparities (HD). HD*Calc was created as an extension of SEER*Stat that allows the user to import SEER Data

Research Tested Intervention Programs (RTIPS)
A listing of physical activity intervention programs.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Active People Survey 3
From Sport England the Active People Survey 3 began on 15 October 2008 and ran for 12 months until mid October 2009.

Disparities in Data on Healthy People 2010 Physical Activity Objectives Collected by Accelerometry and Self-Report
American Journal of Public Health - published online ahead of print
Sandra A. Ham Barbara E. Ainsworth

Conclusions. Disparities in physical activity differ from previous findings. Increased understanding of these disparities should be used to design better and more cost-effective physical activity interventions. Physical activity surveillance methods should be revised to make use of data collection methods that are more valid than self-report.

Health Survey for England - 2008: Physical activity and fitness
The 2008 Health Survey for England focused on physical activity and fitness. Adults and children were asked to recall their physical activity over recent weeks, and objective measures of physical activity and fitness were also obtained. A secondary objective was to examine results on childhood obesity and other factors affecting health, including fruit and vegetable consumption, drinking and smoking.

National policy to local practice: Working together to deliver physical activity programs
Keynote, workshop and poster presentations now available to download.

Ontario Society of Physical Activity Promoters in Public Health (OSPAPPH)
The OSPAPPH aims to be the unified voice representing public health practitioners with the mandate of promoting physical activity in their respective communities.

URBAN DESIGN
Active Design Guidelines
The Active Design Guidelines provides architects and urban designers with a manual of strategies for creating healthier buildings, streets and urban spaces, based on the latest academic research and best practices in the field.

WOMEN
Physical Activity at Midlife in Relation to Successful Survival in Women at Age 70 Years or Older
Archives of Internal Medicine Vol. 170 No. 2, January 25, 2010

Data from the ongoing cohort Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) was used. A total of 13,535 participants who were free of major chronic diseases at baseline in 1986 and were aged 70 years or older were included in the study. ……..This research demonstrates regardless of body weight, physical activity, including walking, at midlife may increase the probability of preserving optimal health in women. Maintaining a healthy body weight and high physical activity levels simultaneously at midlife is likely to increase the odds of successful survival.

August 15, 2009

By Rosanne Prinson, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

CHILDREN
Keeping Pace – Volume 1 Issue 1
This summary is the first in a series that highlights some of the key findings from the Physical Activity and Dietary Intake of Children and Youth in Nova Scotia (PACY) surveillance studies

Six year follow-up of students who participated in a school-based physical activity intervention: a longitudinal cohort study
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2009, 6:48
Six years after the 12-month MIGI intervention, whilst intervention students had increased their advantage relative to controls in one skill, and appeared to maintain their advantage in two, they lost their advantage in two skills and were no more active than controls at follow up.

Translating Physical Activity Recommendations for Overweight Adolescents to Steps Per Day
American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume 37, Issue 2, Pages 137-140
Depending on the Moderate to Vigorous PA criteria used, these data suggest that overweight adolescents are likely to meet national MVPA recommendations if they accumulate between 10,000 and 11,700 steps per day.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Health-Care Cost Projections for Diabetes and other Chronic Diseases: The Current Context and Potential Enhancements
As awareness of the significant impact of chronic diseases on health and health care costs has grown, policymaker interest in exploring the role public policy might play in reducing the toll also has increased. Certainly, there is great public interest to find ways to ease the disease burden – and possibly the cost burden as well.

COMMUNITY
2009 Playful City USA Communities announced
In the third year of this annual program, 32 of 93 Playful City USA communities were repeat honorees from 2008, while 22 cities were cited for the third consecutive year. Thirty-nine new communities have joined others in making a commitment to children, These 93 communities created and implemented programs to positively impact childhood wellness, public safety and the quality of life. Also be sure to click on the ‘home’ tab (top left) to check out the Kaboom web-site.

Living Streets Aotearoa
Living Streets Aotearoa is the New Zealand organization for people on foot, promoting walking-friendly communities. We want more people walking and enjoying public spaces be they young or old, fast or slow, whether walking, sitting, commuting, shopping, between appointments, or out on the streets for exercise, for leisure or for pleasure.


DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Key indicators of progress for chronic disease and associated determinants
To date, information about chronic disease (and determinants) has been problematic in terms of consistency and comparability. This report describes the key indicators of progress for chronic disease and associated determinants (the Indicator set), and is a reference tool for anyone who wishes to measure and report the progress in the prevention of chronic disease in Australia.

Primer to Action: Social Determinants of Health
An electronic resource that helps us understand and influence how the social determinants of health impact chronic disease. Set in an electronic, easy to read format, with hundreds of links and resources, it is a practical resource for busy health and community workers, activists, in their capacity as staff, volunteers or community members.

HEALTH (GENERAL)
Call for a National Charter for Health (Australia)
Effective health promotion and prevention have the capacity to improve health, manage the expenditure pressures of preventable chronic disease, enhance economic productivity, bridge the health divide between different population groups and add healthy years to life expectancy.
Despite these prospects and a growing clamour for greater attention to prevention, it has always remained on the periphery of the healthcare system. Its funding support seems at odds with the compelling evidence base and its power base often too small to influence priority setting.
Partly because of the longer lead time to achieve improved health outcomes, health promotion has been unable to extract significant financial support from funders who face more immediate political and consumer demands for treatment and hospital services…...

MISCELLANEOUS
Nonprofits and Policy Advocacy: Learning from Success
This paper begins by defining what is meant by the term ‘policy advocacy’. In the second section, it looks at why policy advocacy is so important for the non-profit sector. In the third section, it presents examples of successful policy advocacy campaigns, and draws out some of the lessons that can be learned from these successes. Lists of coalitions and further resources are contained in the appendices.

Wellness is……
A 48 pg booklet from the Calgary Health Region which they hope “provides some inspiration to everyone who wishes to improve their health, healing and well-being.”

OLDER ADULTS
Analysis of Individual Social-ecological Mediators and Moderators and Their Ability to Explain Effect of a Randomized Neighborhood Walking Intervention
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2009, 6:49
Using data from the SHAPE trial, a randomized 6-month neighborhood-based intervention designed to increase walking activity among older adults, this study identified and analyzed social-ecological factors mediating and moderating changes in walking activity.

Efficacy of progressive resistance training on balance performance in older adults: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials
Although some studies showed significant improvements in balance performance for groups receiving progressive resistance training, the data did not consistently show that the use of progressive resistance training in isolation improved balance in the elderly.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
Canadian Obesity Network – Nutrition
The purpose of this affiliated web site is to provide a central information and networking area for health professionals who are interested in nutritional aspects of obesity prevention and treatment for children, adolescents and adults.

Factors associated with obesity and coronary heart disease in people with intellectual disabilities
Intellectual functioning and behavioral problems were not associated with greater odds of these conditions.

The obesity epidemic: analysis of past and projected future trends in selected OECD countries
Canada is mentioned 76 times in this 81 page document.

Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
This report describes the expert panel process that was used to identify 24 recommended strategies for obesity prevention and a suggested measurement for each strategy that communities can use to assess performance and track progress over time.

Recommended community strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in the United States: Implementation and measurement guide
The guide includes measurement data protocols, a listing of useful resources, and examples of communities that successfully implemented each obesity prevention strategy.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Are people in Scotland becoming more active? Combined results from Scotland's routine national surveys
This report provides an assessment of long term trends in physical activity amongst adults aged 16-64 in Scotland. Combining data from three Scottish Health Surveys (1995, 1998 and 2003) and ten Health Education Population Surveys (spanning 1996 to 2006), regression analysis is used to examine whether there has been any change in the proportion meeting the recommendations for physical activity between 1995 and 2006.

British Heart Foundation Physical Activity & Health Update August 2009
Latest issue of their monthly newsletter.

Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions to Promote Physical Activity: A Modelling Study
The findings presented in this study suggest that the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a combination of interventions designed to promote physical activity might provide policy makers with some guidance about the best way to reduce the burden of disease caused by physical inactivity.

The Economic Costs of Overweight, Obesity and Physical Inactivity Among California Adults – 2006
Just released July 9th this study “found the total annual estimated cost to California for overweight, obesity and physical inactivity was $41.2 billion – $21.0 billion for overweight and obesity, and $20.2 billion for physical inactivity.”

Participation in Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey: 2008 Annual Report
Take a look at the latest results on participation in physical activity for people aged 15 years and over in Australia.

URBAN DESIGN
The Place Doctor- Fred Kent
Fred Kent, founder of the Project for Public Spaces, is on a mission to put soul back into communities, one park bench at a time……

Squeezing innovative green spaces into crowded cities requires looking for land in unexpected places
Are you regularly told that your city is “all built out” and has no room for new parks, even though there seem to be plenty of new high-rises, parking lots, and shopping malls?
Is it perhaps time to start looking for new urban parkland in untraditional places?
That is exactly what’s beginning to happen in densely packed cities. Here are a few of the innovations.

September 12, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Alta planning and design
We do plans for bikes, pedestrians, urban landscapes greenways, trials and paths, but we're also masters of innovation, research, programs and training.

Commute trip reduction program (CTR)
The Washington State Legislature passed the Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Law in 1991, incorporating it into the Washington Clean Air Act. The goals of the program are to reduce traffic congestion, reduce air pollution, and petroleum consumption through employer-based programs that decrease the number of commute trips made by people driving alone.

Bikes 4 work
The Bicycle Federation of Australia (BFA) today launched a new service to help organizations set up bike fleets in their workplaces

Physician engagement program
Physician Engagement provides BC physicians with resources for their patients about the benefits of physical activity, how to get started with a walking program, and local information on programs and opportunities.

Planning for bicycling and walking: 2005 amendments to the growth management act
This guidance is intended to help those Washington counties, cities, and towns fully planning under the Growth Management Act (GMA) to understand and comply with 2005 amendments to the GMA requiring communities to plan for bicycle and pedestrian transportation and physical activity. This bill requires communities to consider urban planning approaches that promote physical activity, and requires a bicycle and pedestrian component be included in the Transportation Element of a comprehensive plan.

Walk BC
Walk BC is a joint initiative between the Heart & Stroke Foundation of BC & Yukon and the BC Recreation & Parks Association. Walk BC encourages individual and group walking to increase overall health in communities through a range of programs that promote walking.

CHILDREN
CAHPERD name change
September 3rd, 2008 marks the official day that the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) officially changes its name to Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada).

Charter for active kids: A Blueprint for active and healthy children in Western Australia
The charter was developed to identify and articulate the key strategies that will enhance participation in daily physical activity for all children and adolescents in Western Australia.

IWALK October
October is International Walk to School Month (IWALK October) here in Canada and around the world. Wednesday, October 8, 2008 is IWALK Day and October 6-10, 2008 is IWALK Week. Schools can choose to organize relevant activities for the week, just one day or they can participate for the entire month. The IWALK movement started in 2000 with just eight countries and has grown each year to over 40+ participating countries.

School time physical activity of students with and without autism spectrum disorders during PE and recess
This study compared moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and students without disabilities during inclu­sive physical education and recess. [APAQ, 25(4), October 2008]

CHRONIC DISEASE
Exercise or exercise and diet for preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus.
“Interventions aimed at increasing exercise combined with diet are able to decrease the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in high risk groups (people with impaired glucose tolerance or the metabolic syndrome). There is a need for studies exploring exercise only interventions and studies exploring the effect of exercise and diet on quality of life, morbidity and mortality, with special focus on cardiovascular outcomes.”

COMMUNITY
The parent's jury: Active friendly communities
“The Parent's Jury has launched a new campaign for active friendly communities. The campaign kit contains advocacy ideas and resources.”

DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
WHO report on the social determinants of health
Social determinants of health have been the focus of a three-year investigation by an eminent group of policy makers, academics, former heads of state and former ministers of health. Together, they comprise the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health.

DISABILITY
Development of a conceptual model to predict physical activity participation in adults with brain injuries
Findings indicate that affect is critical in shaping the physical activity cognitions and behaviors of adults with brain injuries. Suggestions are made on practical ways to enhance affect and subsequently physical activity participation. [APAQ, 25(4), October 2008]

OBESITY
1st annual national obesity summit
The Canadian Obesity Network's premiere obesity event for 2009 is set to go in beautiful Kananaskis country. Canada's only professional conference dedicated solely to obesity, the National Obesity Summit will feature lectures, workshops and student poster presentations on cutting-edge research…...

OLDER ADULTS
Promoting active aging by connecting BC researchers and communities: Towards 2010 and beyond
This is the final report from the BCNAR annual conference held in Vancouver, BC April 2008.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Effectiveness of public health interventions for increasing physical activity among adults: A review of reviews (evidence briefing)
This evidence briefing collates review-level evidence about he effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity among adults. It focuses on individual-centered interventions and discusses the potential generalization of the results to UK settings.

Guidance on the promotion and creation of physical environments that support increased levels of physical activity
“This guidance offers the first national, evidence-based recommendations on how to improve the physical environment to encourage physical activity. It demonstrates the importance of such improvements and the need to evaluate how they impact on the public's health.”

The rise and fall of Australian physical activity policy 1996 – 2006: a national review framed in an international context
Despite some progression of physical activity policy in the decade since 1995/6, this review found inconsistent policy development, both in Australia and elsewhere. Arguably, Australia has done no worse than other countries….. [Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 2008, 5:18]

Sport, physical activity and renewal: Case studies
“Encouraging people to participate in sport and physical activity regularly and to lead more active lives takes time and resources. Sport and physical activity projects that seek to contribute to neighborhood renewal need to be clear and selective about the outcomes they are seeking to achieve.”

RESEARCH
The Informed Decisions Toolbox
Using research evidence when making decisions about the organization and financing of health care has great appeal, yet decision-makers do not always use this information. The Informed Decisions Toolbox addresses this issue in six steps and aims to help the health care decision-maker: acquire the best available evidence when making management decisions; assess whether evidence is useful, defined as accurate, applicable, actionable, and accessible; and improve the process by which evidence is used in decision-making.

WOMEN
Physical Activity and Women Aged 55 to 70
In an effort to further understand barriers and solutions related to physical activity and sport for women 55-70, a three-year project was undertaken by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) with funding provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada, through the Population Health Fund. From the wealth of information collected, CAAWS developed the following resources to help increase physical activity levels for women 55-70.

August 28, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

CHILDREN
Changes at Ever Active Schools
http://www.everactive.org/
Please note: EAS welcomes the staff of Schools Come Alive as they merge under the EAS umbrella. The services that SCA has offered in the past will continue with Tracy Lockwood as the new Education Coordinator.

DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Getting serious about the social determinants of health: new directions for public health workers
http://ped.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/3/15
Published in Promotion & Education 2008 15: 15-20.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Physical activity impact of Wii – new
http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/WiiStudy.pdf
“The take-home message is that it’s better than sitting around,”…... “While not as good as playing the real sport, Wii certainly does burn more calories and gets your energy expenditure up compared to sitting around playing a sedentary video game.”

Scottish physical activity research collaboration
http://www.sparcoll.org.uk/SPARCollPublications.aspx
Includes a links to Interventions to promote walking: A systematic review and Walking for well-being research papers.
Opening the SPARColl Publications page links you to many more publications and reports.

WCRF/AICR expert report: Food, nutrition, physical activity and the prevention of cancer- A global perspective.
http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/
This report has been updated to include additional information on the continuous review project and policy report, Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention. Information on the upcoming launch of the Chinese version of the report and also on other conferences featuring the report. The Portuguese summary

URBAN DESIGN
Methodologies for identifying and ranking sustainable transport practices in urban regions
http://www.wellar.ca/wellarconsulting/TCProjectSynopsis.pdf
This is the project synopsis.