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.

March 27, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ABORIGINAL
An Overview of the Health of the Métis Population
Released by Statistics Canada February 09. Increasing exercise was identified by participants as the most important thing they could do to improve their health.

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Amenities and Programs that Encourage Active Transportation in All Seasons
This Transport Canada issue paper reviews the most common barriers and benefits, provides information on general measures that can be taken to encourage active transportation, and also looks at a selection of successful initiatives.

Moving On Sustainable Transportation (MOST) Program
Transport Canada has established the Moving on Sustainable Transportation (MOST) Program to support projects that produce the kinds of education, awareness and analytical tools we need if we are to make sustainable transportation a reality. (Be sure to look at the list of previously funded projects for a better idea of the kinds of things that can be done.)

CHILDREN
Children, Youth and Transport – Information for Health and Recreation Professionals
A series of booklets from the Centre for Sustainable Transportation dealing with the needs of Children and Youth when planning transportation and land use.

Children, Youth and Transport – Information for Educators
Children, youth and transport – Information for Municipal Officials
Children, Youth and Transport – Information for Parents
Children, Youth and Transport – Information for Youth

Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities
A national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will help 70 communities across the USA to reshape their environments to support healthy living and prevent childhood obesity.

National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity
NPLAN provides leaders in the childhood obesity prevention field with focused legal research, model policies, fact sheets, toolkits, training and technical assistance to explain legal issues related to public health. Our goal is to help create strong childhood obesity policy interventions…

CHRONIC DISEASE
Community Interventions for Health
This initiative acts upon the urgent need to design, implement and assess cost-effective comprehensive interventions for all three risk factors (poor diet, tobacco use, lack of physical activity), adaptable to different cultures and communities. The research is unique in its scale and scope - the interventions will be tracked across multiple countries and multiple settings: schools, healthcare centres, workplaces and local communities.

Oxford Health Alliance
This registered charity is about preventing and reducing the global impact of chronic disease. It stands for innovative action with diverse stakeholders around three risk factors – tobacco use, physical inactivity and poor diet.

COMMUNITY
Community Gardens
These model policy "packages" explain why land use policies are important for supporting and protecting community gardens and farmers' markets, and provide model general plan and zoning language to encourage these uses.

How to Use Redevelopment to Create Healthy Communities
This fact sheet is designed to give advocates a general introduction to how redevelopment works and highlight ways for advocates to engage in the process.

Joint use Agreements Between Schools and Communities
Many communities lack safe, adequate places for children and their families to exercise and play. Schools might have a variety of recreational facilities —gymnasiums, playgrounds, fields, courts, tracks —but many districts close their property to the public after school hours because of concerns about costs, vandalism, security, maintenance, and liability in the event of injury…..

Leadership for Healthy Communities
Based in Washington, D.C., Leadership for Healthy Communities is a $10-million national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation designed to support local and state government leaders nationwide in their efforts to reduce childhood obesity through public policies that promote active living, healthy eating and access to healthy foods.

Local Government Commission: Healthy Communities
An active living community is designed to provide opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to engage in routine daily physical activity. Provides resources and links to even more resources.

Mentally Healthy Communities: A Collection of Papers
CPHI commissioned eight experts to share their thoughts on the following questions: What are mentally healthy communities? and what makes some communities more mentally healthy or resilient than others?

HEALTH PROMOTION
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN)
CPEHN works to ensure that all Californians have access to quality health care and can live healthy lives. As the country becomes increasingly diverse, CPEHN's multicultural perspective is more and more critical. We gather the strength of communities of color to build a united and powerful voice in health advocacy. Together, we're working to evolve health care from a one-size-fits-all approach to a system that works for people from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
State of the Evidence Review on Urban Health and Healthy Weights
To generate and synthesize knowledge in its theme areas of Healthy Weights and Place and Health (with a focus on urban health), CPHI commissioned a systematic literature review of the evidence on associations between modifiable characteristics of urban environments and healthy weights.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership
A collaboration of funders who have come together with the shared goal of changing policies and environments to better achieve the vision of healthy people living in healthy places. (Be sure to explore the links in the left hand nav column, to see even more documents and resources.)

World Cross Country Fitness Challenge
A new on-line activity tracker. The program challenges the participants to run, walk, swim, bike, row, ski, skate, roller blade or wheel chair their way across the world without leaving home.

URBAN DESIGN
Regional Development and Physical Activity: Issues and Strategies for Promoting Health Equity
The paper explores the connection between development patterns, physical activity, and poor health.

February 20, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

CHILDREN
Contributing to physical activity and healthy eating for young Canadians
Report from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada 2007

Factors that Shape Our Children’s Participation in Physical Activity and Sport: Saskatchewan Parents’ Perspective
March 2008

Health promotion profile of youth sports clubs in Finland: club officials' and coaches' perceptions
Health Promotion International, Vol. 24 No. 1
The study shows that youth sports clubs in Finland are fairly health promoting in general, but only every fourth club has realized health promotion with a comprehensive ethos. Every third of the clubs expressed very little interest in health promotion. Thus, there is still a lot of potential for further development in the whole field of sports. (This journal offers free access).

Longitudinal Study of Physical Activity and Inactivity in Preschoolers: The FLAME Study
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2009, 41: 96–102
Two hundred and forty-four children were seen annually at 3, 4, and 5 yr. Physical activity and inactivity was measured by questionnaire and by Actical accelerometers for five consecutive days each year in children and once in each parent for 7 d. Conclusion: Levels of physical activity declined in boys and girls between the ages 3 and 4-5 yr, whether using objective measures or parental reports of activity.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Policy and action for cancer prevention
The report reviews the evidence on environmental, economic, social and personal determinants of food, nutrition, and physical activity patterns and the interventions and actions that may affect these.

CONFERENCES
3rd International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health
5-8 May 2010 Toronto

Be Active 09
14 - 17 October 2009 Brisbane Australia
The goal of be active '09 is to provide a scientific forum in which delegates from Australia and around the world can come together to discuss and debate the latest scientific research and evidence on all forms of physical activity - from elite sport to walking in local communities.

Walk 21
7-9 October 2009 New York

HEALTH PROMOTION
Six essential roles of health promotion research centres: the Atlantic Canada experience
Health Promotion International, Vol. 24 No. 1 (open access)
The conclusion raises questions regarding the value of university-based research
centres and challenges to their sustainability.

MISCELLANEOUS
Poverty and health in Edmonton
On page 25: "From the Canadian Community Health Survey, the combined data (2003 and 2005) show that a higher percentage of children and youth (12-18 years) in the Average SES group were classified as physically inactive than the High or Low SES Groups"

OLDER ADULTS
A Million Messages for Seniors Falls Prevention
A package of resources that provide information about falls prevention for older adults. Using illustrated characters key messages about falls prevention are presented to seniors. Information sheets accompany the visual display to provide more detailed information about steps older adults can take to prevent falls.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
Draw the line campaign
An innovative healthy weight campaign from the West Australian divisions of the Heart Foundation, Cancer Council and Diabetes WA. There are also physical activity tools, resources.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
A Toolkit for the Design, Implementation & Evaluation of Exercise Referral Schemes DRAFT
The BHFNC has recently developed a toolkit for the design, implementation and evaluation of exercise referral schemes. A draft version is now available for consultation.

Find thirty every day
The campaign aims to increase the number of West Australian adults who are sufficiently active for good health. By visiting this site you’ve taken the first step to finding thirty minutes of physical activity every day and finding all kinds of rewards.

WOMEN
Exercise on prescription for women aged 40-74 recruited through primary care: two year randomised controlled trial
British Medical Journal 2008;337:a2509
This programme of exercise on prescription increased physical activity and quality of life over two years, although falls and injuries also increased. This finding supports the use of exercise on prescription programmes as part of population strategies to reduce physical inactivity.

October 2, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Alta Planning + Design
This links takes you to a page that houses all of the presentation given at the Sept 08 Pro Walk / Pro Bike conference. There is a great deal of good information on walking and cycling here.

CHILDREN
Bike sheds and funding (Australia schools)
One of the biggest barriers to more students riding to school is the lack of secure, sheltered places to park bikes at school. Our experience shows that a bike shed can increase the number of students riding to school by 50% overnight.

Challenges in assessing the implementation and effectiveness of physical activity and nutrition policy interventions as natural experiments
As found in Health Promotion International, 2008, 23: 290-297. The paper provides an example of a natural experiment of the Ontario government in Canada’s new policy requiring elementary schools to offer at least 20 min of daily physical activity for students in Grades 1–8 and replace non-nutritious vending machine foods with healthier choices. Note: Guy Faulkner is one of the authors.

Development of a compendium of energy expenditures for youth
As found in International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2008, 5: 45. The new Compendium is intended to be used in scoring physical activity questionnaires and estimating energy expenditure levels in young people. It provides a more accurate, time efficient and up to date tool for both researchers and practitioners in measuring physical activity/energy expenditure specific to this population group in future interventions and programs.

EPODE (Together let’s prevent childhood obesity)
A methodology designed to involve all relevant local stakeholders in an integrated and concrete prevention program aimed at facilitating the adoption of healthier lifestyles in the everyday life.

Hands Up! (Bicycle Victoria)
Hands Up! allows your school to track its progress in getting more students riding and walking more often. It's a great way to measure and reward your school's success and it's as easy as ABC!

Ride 2 School
The Ride2School Program (Australia) is a behavior change program which aims to increase the number of students walking and riding to school.

COMMUNITY
Active community environments (ACE’s) program
Active Community Environments (ACEs) are places where people of all ages and abilities can easily enjoy walking, bicycling, and other forms of recreation.

Active creative engaged communities
Be sure to check out the downloads page

Mentally healthy communities: A collection of papers
The Canadian Population Health Initiative (CPHI) commissioned these papers from experts from across Canada and internationally to foster discussion of the complex ways in which individual, social, cultural, physical and socio-economic determinants may affect individual and community mental health.

Planning and designing the physically active community: A resource list
The Planning and Designing the Physically Active Community Resource List contains book, article, and government document citations. The list is part of a continuous process and may be considered a literature review as well as a resource list.

Planning for parks, recreation, and open space in your community
This guidebook provides suggestions for distinguishing and designating different types of open space and recreation areas to meet a variety of community and regional needs. It provides basic steps and criteria for designating open space areas and recreation areas. It provides information on the planning process for parks, recreation, and open space and how to fund these facilities in your community.

HEALTH PROMOTION
Introducing health impact assessment (HIA): Informing the decision-making process
This booklet provides a simple, straightforward overview of the developing health impact assessment (HIA) approach, aiming to highlight its potential value and encourage people to use it to inform and enhance equitable, health-aware decision-making at all levels.

OLDER ADULTS
Healthy aging network (HAN) Case study report
An innovative Prevention Research Centers (PRC) program, the Healthy Aging Research Network (HAN) is a group of nine PRCs focused on improving the health of older Americans by conducting quality prevention research, translation, and dissemination of findings.


Healthy aging research network environmental audit tool and protocol
This audit tool and protocol were designed to support a detailed quantitative and qualitative inquiry into community-scale and street-scale factors associated with physical activity in older adults.

Livable and senior friendly communities: North Carolina

Walk-wise Drive smart - A senior pedestrian safety campaign

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Long-term effectiveness of interventions promoting physical activity: A systematic review
Published in upcoming issue of Preventive Medicine. This review is the first to provide evidence of long-term effectiveness in physical activity programs and these successful components should be considered when planning future interventions in adults.

Washington State Department of Health – Nutrition and physical activity strategy
To help the people of Washington get healthier, the Department of Health is working with communities, schools, employers, and healthcare providers to make changes that will make it easier for us to make healthy choices in our daily lives.

White Paper on sport: an-other step to tackle obesity
The White Paper on Sport is focused on the societal role of sport which comprises the enhancement of public health through physical activity but also, the economic dimension and organisations in Europe, and the subsequent follow-up of the measures taken.

URBAN DESIGN
FHWA University Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation
Designed for engineering and planning students, the FHWA University Course contains modular resource material that is intended for use in university courses on bicycle and pedestrian transportation. The Student Workbook contains 24 lessons that span a wide range of topics including an introduction to bicycling and walking issues, planning and designing for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and supporting elements and programs.

WORKPLACE
The Green Bike Project (GBP)
Will provide 200 new commuter bikes - and 100 tune ups for existing bikes - to commuters in return for their pledge to reduce drive-alone commuting by 60% during the project.

July 21, 2008

by Rosanne Prinsen, MSc
Resource Coordinator

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Bicycle safety
“The need for safe, convenient, and attractive facilities to encourage safe bicycling is essential. This site is designed to make it easier for the bicycle safety practitioner and advocate to locate and acquire the most appropriate resources to meet their particular planning, designing, and operating needs for bicycle facilities.”

Making cycling irresistible: Lessons from the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany
While history, culture, topography and climate are important, they do not necessarily determine the fate of cycling. Government policies are at least as important: transport policies, land-use policies, urban development policies, housing policies, environmental policies, taxation policies and parking policies.

Pedestrian safety
“This site is designed to make it easier for the pedestrian safety practitioner and advocate to locate and acquire the most appropriate resources to meet their particular planning, design, and operation needs for pedestrian facilities.”

Velomobiles
Human-powered vehicles -- fully enclosed recumbent bicycles that usually have three wheels, a chair-like seat and a standard bicycle drivetrain. The modern velomobile is the closest that anyone has come to building a truly practical all-weather, human-powered vehicle.

CHILDREN

A comparison between children's physical activity levels at school and learning in an outdoor environment
Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, Volume 7, Issue 2 December 2007, pages 161 – 176

Australia's active after-school communities (AASC) program
“The program is designed to engage traditionally inactive children in structured physical activities and build links with community based organizations to create opportunities for ongoing participation.”

Energy expenditure of obese, overweight, and normal weight females during lifestyle physical activities
International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, Volume 3, Issue 3 2008, pages 177 – 185

Family physical activity and sedentary environments and weight change in children
International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, Volume 3, Issue 3 2008, pages 160 - 167

How physical activity can work?
International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, Volume 3, Issue S1 2008, pages 10 – 14

International conference on physical activity and obesity in children: Summary statement and recommendations
Journal of Pediatric Obesity, Volume 3, Issue 1 2008, pages 3 – 21

Neighborhood characteristics in relation to diet, physical activity and overweight of Canadian children
International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, Volume 3, Issue 3 2008, pages 152 - 159

HEALTH PROMOTION

Find thirty every day
“The campaign aims to increase the number of West Australian adults who are sufficiently active for good health.”

Prevention institute
Prevention Institute helps identify ways to improve community environments so that healthy eating and physical activity become the easy choice.

Redesigned healthfinder.gov
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has redesigned healthfinder.gov. Physical activity information can be found under the ‘quick guide to healthy living” or by using the a-z encyclopedia.

Take life on, one step at a time
A new health promotion (physical activity is included) multimedia campaign from the Scottish Government.

OLDER ADULTS

The effectiveness of a physical activity intervention for seniors
American Journal of Health Promotion May/Jun2008, Vol. 22 Issue 5, p318 4p.
The purpose of this study was “To determine whether a tailored, 6-month, neighborhood-based, physical activity intervention for people aged 65 to 74 years could increase their total physical activity levels and to identify factors associated with physical activity times.” It concluded “The program was successful in increasing weekly mean time for physical activity in seniors and in identifying factors that affect their commitment to physical activities.”

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

ACSM American fitness index
This was developed “to provide an evidence- and science-based measurement of the state of health and fitness at the community level throughout the U.S. Communities, organizations and individuals will be able to assess factors that contribute to health and fitness and measure the progress.”

Russ Kisby fitness walk
1st Annual walk. “We are inviting you to visit the website and we hope that wherever you are, you will take time on July 20th to walk and remember Russ.”

USA physical activity guidelines advisory committee report
The new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans will be issued later in 2008. Find out more information in this report.

URBAN DESIGN

A resident's guide for creating safe and walkable communities
“This guide provides examples from other communities working to improve pedestrian safety. It includes information, ideas, and resources to help residents learn about issues that affect walking conditions; find ways to address or prevent these problems; and promote pedestrian safety.”

Designing and building healthy places (CDC)
…. “the interaction between people and their environments, natural as well as human-made, continues to emerge as a major issue concerning public health.” Many documents, links and resources here J

Working together to create healthy people in healthy places
“There is growing recognition that creating healthy places–neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces–is essential to supporting healthy eating and physical activity behaviours. The documents, briefs, and toolkit, in this section, present a comprehensive and cross-cutting review of policy, strategy, and program recommendations to create healthy eating and active living environments.”

The causal influence of neighborhood design on physical activity within the neighborhood: Evidence from Northern California.
American Journal of Health Promotion May/Jun2008, Vol. 22 Issue 5, p350 9p.
The purpose of this study was to “Test for a causal relationship between neighborhood design and physical activity within the neighborhood by controlling for self-selection” It concluded “Both cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal analyses provided evidence of a causal impact of neighborhood design. Improving physical activity options, aesthetic qualities, and social environment may increase physical activity.”

June 12, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Cycling - Getting Australia moving: Barriers, facilitators and interventions to get more Australians physically active through cycling
This report has been developed to assist practitioners, policy makers and planners to increase adult physical activity levels through bicycle riding.

CHILDREN

Active and safe routes to school
Green Communities Canada, in partnership with Ecology Action in Nova Scotia, SHAPE Alberta; and the Way to Go! School Program in British Columbia, is launching School Travel Planning (STP). STP brings together community stakeholders to identify barriers to active transportation for each school and develop a written action plan.

Building solutions for preventing childhood obesity
Consisting of seven separate modules covering both nutrition and physical activity topics.

Children and nature network
The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working to reconnect children with nature. C&NN provides access to the latest news and research in the field and a peer-to-peer network of researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children's health and well-being.

CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION

Influence of combined exercise training on indices of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes patients
The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of combined exercise training on indices of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes patients.

CONFERENCES

Active living research annual conference
The theme of the conference is Active Communities for Youth and Families: Creating Momentum for Change. February 18-20, 2009 in San Diego, CA.

HEALTH PROMOTION

From news to everyday use. The difficult art of implementation (Sweden)
Once new health–promoting methods have been presented, sometimes after years of research, it often takes a long time for them to come into daily use. This delay means that possible health gains are not achieved as quickly as we would perhaps like. The aim of this report is to facilitate the work of public health planners, prevention coordinators and others who sometimes face the challenge of disseminating and implementing new methods in the field of public health.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

How socio-economic status contributes to participation in leisure-time physical activity

Special issue of Canadian journal of public health
An issue focusing on the evaluation of the Canadian physical activity guides. Click on Supplement 2e under the 2007 heading.

Worldwide variability in physical inactivity: A 51-country survey

OLDER ADULTS

Group exercise can improve participants' mobility in an outpatient rehabilitation setting: a randomized controlled trial
The authors report that this short-duration circuit class programme improved mobility, but not strength.

Regular vigorous physical activity and disability development in healthy overweight and normal-weight seniors: A 13-year study
Public health efforts that promote physically active lifestyles among seniors may be more successful than those that emphasize body weight in the prevention of functional decline.