March 19, 2010

By Rosanne Prinsen MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

Info Round Up will return on April 1, 2010

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Get Active Mississauga – Active Transportation
Lots of good info here – be sure to go to the Get Active homepage too.

CHILDREN

Effect of school based physical activity programme (KISS) on fitness and adiposity in primary schoolchildren: cluster randomised controlled trial
BMJ 2010;340:c785

Conclusion: A school based multi-component physical activity intervention including compulsory elements improved physical activity and fitness and reduced adiposity in children.

Let’s Move
Check out this new childhood obesity program in the US with the involvement of First Lady Michelle Obama.

Neighborhood determinants of self-efficacy, physical activity, and body weights among Canadian children
Health & Place Volume 16, Issue 3, May 2010, Pages 567-572

Both infrastructural investments such as in recreational facilities, sidewalks and parks, as well as health education to promote self-efficacy may increase PA and prevent overweight among children.

Physical activity and adolescents: An exploratory randomised controlled trial investigating the influence of affective and instrumental text messages
British Journal of Health Psychology

The findings suggest that for adolescent individuals who are inactive, receiving messages about affective gains from physical activity are more effective than receiving messages about the potential health benefits.

CHRONIC DISEASE

Management of Low Back Pain
The Alberta Ambassador Program has produced practice guidelines for acute and chronic low back pain which are housed on the Toward Optimized Practice web site of the Alberta Medical Association. The guidelines are available in a two page summary form as well as longer more detailed versions. There are also patient information sheets available.

Type 2 Diabetes: Poverty, Priorities and Policy: The Social Determinants of the Incidence and Management of Type 2 Diabetes
Brand new 2010 report. Physical activity is mentioned many times – including specific tables/figures. (Note: when you go to the link it may ask you to install an add on to open the document – it’s safe to do so).

HEALTHY EATING

Four translations of Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide – First Nations, Inuit and Métis
This food guide is now available in Woods Cree, Plains Cree, Ojibwe, and Inuktitut. These translations are part of a broader effort by Health Canada to provide Canada’s Food Guide in a variety of languages to better reach Canadians.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY

Neighborhoods and obesity in New York City
Health & Place Volume 16, Issue 3, May 2010, Pages 489-499

These findings are consistent with the growing literature showing that area income and availability of food and physical activity resources are related to obesity.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Australian sports urged to engage all cultures
An important part of involving your community in structured sport is the work that clubs and coaches do to build awareness and promote participation within all cultures. Links provide information on how to involve multicultural communities in your locality in sport and recreation.

Health Survey for England 2008: Focus on physical activity and fitness
Released February 2010. This document summarizes the key findings from the 2008 Health Survey for England concerning the physical activity levels of adults and children.

Parks, Playgrounds and Active Living
This synthesis summarizes the growing body of evidence concerning the role of parks in shaping active lifestyles across a variety of study populations, including children, seniors, lower-income families, specific racial and ethnic groups and other populations at high risk of being inactive.

Physical activity and health fact sheet
*New* from the BHF National Centre Physical Activity + Health (UK).
This updated fact sheet provides the latest evidence on how physical activity can help to prevent a range of medical conditions including cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, some cancers, hypertension and osteoporosis. This fact sheet can be used to make the case and secure funding for physical activity intervention or for professionals to increase and update their knowledge.

Program Costing Worksheets
These worksheets provide templates for determining program costs, which include staff, facilities and additional costs. There is a section for determining cost per participant and for calculating net profit or loss at the end of the program.

Urban Green Space and Public Health
Looks at the links between urban green space and public health

Using Active Living Principles to Promote Physical Activity in Rural Areas
This document is meant for community advocates, leaders, policy makers, or any other stakeholders that are interested in creating supports for active living within rural communities.

WOMEN
Physical activity, sedentary behavior and depression among disadvantaged women
Health Education Research Advance Access published online on February 9, 2010
Megan Teychenne, Kylie Ball and Jo Salmon

This study demonstrates the associations that exist between the risk of depression in women and is novel due to its large number of participants and its focus on disadvantaged neighborhoods

October 23, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Centre for Sustainable Transportation
This edition of the newsletter highlights the past spring and summer activities on the Centre, as well as local events in and around Winnipeg.

The Top 10 Facts on Bicycling and Walking in the United States
Although these are US statistics, they are helpful because, in most cases, equivalent Canadian numbers do not exist.

CHILDREN
Active After-school Communities
An Australian initiative that provides primary school-aged children with access to free, sport and other structured physical activity programs in the after-school time slot of 3.00pm to 5.30pm.The program aims to engage traditionally inactive children in sport and other structured physical activities, and through a positive and fun experience, develop a love of sport that inspires them to join a local sporting club

BMI report cards: will they pass or fail in the fight against pediatric obesity?
Research does not suggest that BMI report cards will be effective in reducing rates of pediatric overweight and obesity. Instead, recent findings show that the potential for harm may outweigh possible benefits. States and countries that mandate the use of BMI report cards should make evaluation of these policies a priority."

Built4kids - A good practice guide to creating child-friendly built environments
An Australian resource developed to help create built environments with and for children and young people. It can be used by local councils, government agencies, planners, schools, architects, developers and other professionals.

Environmental correlates of children's active transportation: A systematic literature review
This systematic review investigated the environmental (physical, economic, socio-cultural and political) correlates of active transportation (AT) among young people aged 5-18 years to better inform the promotion of active living.

Keeping children safe: rethinking how we design our surroundings
Injury is the leading cause of death among children in North America, many of them traffic-related injuries that can be traced back to poor community design decisions, like locating a school on the wrong side of a busy street, says Dr. Andrew Howard in a paper published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

COMMUNITY
How to Engage Inactive Communities in Physical Activity: Top Tips from the BHFNC 8th Annual Conference
This booklet provides practical ‘tips’ for engaging inactive communities in physical activity. It includes generic tips relevant to practitioners working across a broad range of communities and/or groups, and specific tips for engaging the following key target groups: People with disabilities, girls and young women, older adults, people with mental ill-health, black and minority ethnic communities and socially deprived communities.

Sport in the Neighborhood resources
A guide is designed to help implement a grass-roots sport and physical activity program in a local community. There are many resources here including reports, brochures, factsheets, templates and useful links.

DISABILITY
The Key to Getting Services Right for People with Disabilities
This presentation goes step by step through a demographic study undertaken by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation to reach out to those who are disenfranchised through disability - developmental, intellectual, physical, cognitive, emotional, mental and social.

HEALTHY EATING
BC Food Security Gateway
The Food Security Gateway is designed to be a “one stop” Web resource for food security practitioners and others in British Columbia who want to make “healthy eating the easy choice” and build food-secure communities.

MISCELLANEOUS
A user’s guide to advocacy evaluation planning
Developed for advocates, evaluators, and funders who want guidance on how to evaluate advocacy and policy change efforts. This tool takes users through four basic steps that generate the core elements of an advocacy evaluation plan, including what will be measured and how.

Australian Public Service Social Inclusion Policy Design and Delivery Toolkit
While not specifically related to physical activity – this web resource is a gold mine of information J

Challenges of evidence-based policy-making
In the real world, policy is developed in a fluid environment, is subject to competing vested and political interests, and can be driven by pressure to act quickly to solve headline-grabbing problems. Ideally, we need systems that are informed by evidence at each stage of policy development, from when an issue is first identified, to the development of the most appropriate response, and subsequent evaluation of its effectiveness.

Health and Wellness related maps for British Columbia
A partnership between the University of Victoria and the BCStats agency, with support from the BC Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport has resulted in a the creation of a website that gives the ability to construct a variety of health and wellness related maps for BC, and compare the relationship between wellness indicators.

The National Collaborating Centres for Public Health: Strengthening public health by learning from each other

OLDER ADULTS
Active Aging Week – Resources from ICAA
Links to numerous fact sheets, handouts and other resources as part of its celebration of Active Aging Week.

Clear Print Accessibility Guidelines
From CNIB - Readability shouldn’t be an afterthought when producing materials.
It should be the first step in making your merchandise, service, location or information accessible to everyone.

Continuing Care in the Edmonton Region: A Research Inventory
The inventory, prepared by the Alberta Centre on Aging at the University of Alberta, includes information on funding sources as well as summaries of the results and conclusions of each research project.

Dynamic exercise programs (aerobic capacity and/or muscle strength training) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4, 2009
Based on the evidence, aerobic capacity training combined with muscle strength training is recommended as routine practice in patients with RA.

How to select an age-friendly fitness facility
From ICAA this is a comprehensive checklist to assist in comparing and rating local facilities, with sections on facilities operations, equipment, programming and staff.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Canadian Health Measures Survey
The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) aims to collect important health information through a household interview and direct physical measures at a mobile clinic.

Could this be the fittest generation?
[O]n the eve of their golden years, could this be the most active generation of 50-year-olds Canada has ever seen? Health experts are anticipating the definitive answer early next year, when Statistics Canada releases fitness data from a project called the Canadian Health Measures Survey, the most comprehensive study ever to look at fitness levels among Canadians of all ages.

Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey (ERASS)
Australia - First conducted in 2001, the ERASS collects information on the frequency, duration, nature and type of activities that are participated in by persons aged 15 years and over for exercise, recreation and sport during the 12 months prior to interview. Participation means active ‘playing’ participation, and does not include coaching, refereeing and being a spectator or activities related to work, household chores or gardening duties. (Note: the 2008 report was in the round up earlier this year; this link lets you see each of the yearly reports).

Intensity and timing of physical activity in relation to postmenopausal breast cancer risk: the prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study
BMC Cancer 2009, 9:349
A high level of recent, but not historical, physical activity of moderate-to-vigorous intensity is associated with reduced postmenopausal breast cancer risk. More precise recall of recent physical activity than activity in the distant past is one possible explanation for our findings.

Let’s get moving - a new physical activity care pathway for the NHS: commissioning guidance
The commissioning guidance sets out an evidence-based behaviour charter model Let’s Get Moving encouraging local commissioning of physical activity interventions in primary care.

October 15, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ABORIGINAL
Closing the Nutrition & Physical Activity Gap in Victoria: Victorian Aboriginal Nutrition & Physical Activity Strategy
This strategy is not merely about preventing disease. It takes a holistic view of nutrition and physical activity, incorporating the social determinants of health (from Australia).

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Active Transportation: Making the Link from Transportation to Physical Activity and Obesity Research Brief
This research brief summarizes the latest peer-reviewed research that demonstrates the potential impact of infrastructure investments and other transportation programs on walking and bicycling for transportation, and on related health outcomes.

Active Travel: The Role of Self-Selection in Explaining the Effect of Built Environment on Active Travel Research Brief
This research brief highlights research that shows that creating more traditionally designed communities may lead to increase in active travel and self-selection has a role to play.

Idaho Walk Smart: Walk Safe, Walk Smart, Walk Often
This booklet contains three chapters addressing general safety guidelines, and two special chapters addressing the unique challenges children and seniors face as pedestrians.

CHILDREN
Active Education: Physical Education, Physical Activity and Academic Performance Research Brief
This research brief summarizes the latest peer-reviewed research on the relationship between physical activity and academic performance among children and adolescents.

Children and Bike Riding: Tips for Parents

Helping children reach and maintain a healthy weight
From the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Physical activity is addressed.

Influence of the Social Environment on Children's School Travel in Walkable Neighborhoods
Presentation from the 2009 Active Living Research Annual Conference

Tired of hanging around: Using sport and leisure activities to prevent anti-social behaviour by young people
This study focuses on the role of sport and leisure activities in preventing anti-social behaviour in young people aged 8 to 19 years. These activities are part of the actions that local councils and their partners can use to tackle and prevent anti-social behaviour.

HEALTHY EATING
Act Now BC: Healthy Eating for Seniors Handbook and Videos

Dietitians of Canada Senior Friendly¹ fact sheets

Getting to Grocery: Tools for Attracting Healthy Food Retailers to Underserved Neighborhoods
Bringing a grocery store into an underserved neighborhood not only makes fresh produce and other healthy food more accessible, it can provide living-wage jobs, raise the value of surrounding property, and anchor and attract additional businesses to the neighborhood.

The Senior Chef: Cooking for One or Two
Recipes in the Senior Chef have been selected so that you may be assured of serving nutritious, economical and easy to prepare meals.

Seniors Nutrition Research and Resources
An excellent website with a great deal of information about current seniors nutrition research and resources.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
Obesity in Canada: Snapshot
A report from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool
ENACT is a concrete menu of strategies designed to help you improve nutrition and activity environments on a local level. These strategies have been organized into seven environments that were carefully selected for their importance in individual and community health.

Each ENACT strategy presents useful information based on current research and practice and includes model policies and programs, hands-on tools, articles and other publications, and resources. The strategies are structured to be interactive so that implementation can become a reality.

Powering Participation: Successful initiatives to boost sports participation and club membership
Case studies presenting the approach selected sports have taken to power participation and membership in non-traditional ways. They offer successful examples of how New Zealand sports are adapting to the changing environment.

URBAN DESIGN
Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Urban and Suburban Zoning Codes
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Smart Growth Program has released a report that explores 11 "essential fixes" that address the barriers local governments may face in implementing smart growth. Topics include mixing land uses, addressing parking requirements, modernizing street standards, managing storm water, adopting smart annexation policies, and more. Each essential fix describes actions that a community could take to overcome smart growth challenges.

September 28, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

CHILDREN
After School Recreation Initiatives: Final Report
This study examines the state of afterschool recreation programming (in Alberta) and identifies opportunities for engaging recreation practitioners and allied stakeholders in developing a provincial strategy for action to create quality afterschool programs as a way to use those hours for constructive, healthy activities.

Encourage the Kids, Support the Game
A community education campaign, funded by the Victorian Government and VicHealth, which aims to stamp out poor spectator behaviour in junior sport so that players, parents, all spectators and officials can enjoy the game

Interactions of socioeconomic position with psychosocial and environmental correlates of children's physical activity
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2009, 6:56
Learn how socioeconomic, psychosocial and environmental factors relate to physical activity in this new study from South Australia.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Type 1 Diabetes: Living Well with Diabetes
This section of the NHS (UK) Choices website provides information about eating a healthy diet if you type 1 diabetes. It is aimed at the general public.

Type 2 Diabetes: Diet
This section of the NHS Choices website provides information about eating a healthy diet if you type 2 diabetes. It is aimed at the general public.

DISABITLITY/ACCESSIBILITY
MS Practice - for health professionals
A series of free resources developed for health professionals & students who work with people with MS, developed by MS Australia and physiotherapy experts is now available.

HEALTHY EATING
Study Suggests Easy Access to Fast-Food Restaurants, Coupled with No Access to a Car, Prompts Weight Gain
The researchers attribute the weight variations to the fact that individuals who are less affluent and do not own cars are unable to travel the distance necessary to obtain healthier foods, resulting in overreliance on the lower-priced, higher-calorie foods available at fast-food outlets

OLDER ADULTS
Marketing and Communicating to Older Adults
This presentation from the Canadian Centre on Activity and Aging 2009 Research to Action conference provides an overview of marketing fundamentals - know your product, know your audience, have a plan - and how to apply this to the older adults market segment.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
Disentangling the Risks Associated With Weight Status, Diet, and Physical Activity
We conclude that sufficient evidence demonstrates that the effects of weight status on cardiovascular and metabolic risk can be mediated by physical activity and CRF (5-9). As public health researchers, we should refocus our investigations to better understand the separate effects of diet and physical activity in the total population, regardless of a person’s weight status, and use the most objective measures possible. These efforts will enable us to determine the most favorable physical activity and fitness levels for all Americans to reach optimal health and prevent illness.

Validity of Self-Reported Height, Weight, and Body Mass Index: Findings From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2006
Men and women significantly overreport their height, increasingly so at older ages. Men tend to overestimate their weight, but women underreport their weight, more so in younger ages. Corresponding BMI is underestimated, more so for women than for men at each age and increasingly so with older age for both sexes.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Website-delivered physical activity interventions: a review of the literature
The results found some evidence suggesting that website-delivered physical activity interventions produced increased levels of physical activity. The effects of the interventions were short-term. There was limited evidence of continued changes in physical activity

URBAN DESIGN
New urban community promotes social networks and walking
This study is probably the first to show, in an academic study, such a big difference in social activity between a new urban community and a comparable suburban development. Also, it is the first to show such high rates of walking to stores.

WOMEN
Life events and changing physical activity patterns in women at different life stages
Annals of Behavioral Medicine 37(3)
See how life events can affect physical activity participation in the latest results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

WORKPLACE
Workplace resource kit
The Western Australia Department of Sport and Recreation have produced a new resource kit for developing physical activity and health programs in the workplace. (It’s large 48.1 MB)

September 18, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Tools to Encourage Active Transportation – Kingston, ON
A report suggesting a variety of measures to encourage Kingstonians to choose active forms of transportation like walking or cycling. "Trails for Active Transportation" was developed out of a Walk & Bike for Life community workshop on Active Transportation that took place last March.

CHILDREN

Benefits of Providing SPORT 4 ALL YOUTH
Evidence that quality youth sport programs that remove the participation barriers of cost and transportation will help reduce crime, drug use, depression, and obesity.

Journal of Adolescent Health: Special Issue on Adolescent Obesity
This supplement highlights recent findings that illustrate the depth of research related to adolescent obesity prevention and its relevance for informing policy changes. The issue is free and open to the public.

Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
The report identifies specific actions that local (USA) governments can take to improve healthy eating and increase physical activity in communities. Highlighted are twelve policies that have the greatest potential for impact, including incentive programs to attract grocery stores to underserved areas, complete streets policies, and joint use. Many of these policies can be found in Prevention Institute’s Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT), along with tools and resources for implementation

Physical Literacy Website Launched
PHE Canada has launched a new website that targets educators and parents to support the development of physical literacy in children and youth.

SPARK Together for Healthy Kids
Spark Together for Healthy Kids is the Heart and Stroke Foundation's response to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. This announcement also includes the release of a report card on the Heart Health of Ontario’s children.

DISABITLITY/ACCESSIBILITY

Disability Health Promotion Network
A new on-line health promotion resource from the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities (SMD). Our goal is to provide credible and timely health information for people living with disabilities and seniors living with disabilities. In the absence of the Canadian Health Network SMD thought that it was important to continue to provide an online health promotion tool for the groups of people that our organization serves.

HEALTHY EATING

The Role of the Registered Dietitian in Primary Health Care: A National Perspective
Dietitians of Canada (DC) released a report describing the integral role played by registered dietitians, as members of multi-disciplinary teams that contribute to promoting and supporting health among Canadians. The report presents evidence for the cost-effectiveness of nutrition services in the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer and heart disease.

HEALTH (GENERAL)

Health Impact Assessment e-News
Produced by the Centre for Health Equity Training, Research and Evaluation (CHETRE), part of the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity at the University of New South Wales, Australia.
OLDER ADULTS

Checklist of Essential Features of Age-friendly Cities
This checklist is intended to be used by individuals and groups interested in making their city more age-friendly. For the checklist to be effective, older people must be involved as full partners.

Growing Stronger - Strength Training for Older Adults
From the CDC a web-site showing a series of exercises including the warm up and cool down.

How much physical activity do older adults need?
From the CDC. As an older adult, regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It can prevent many of the health problems that seem to come with age. It also helps your muscles grow stronger so you can keep doing your day-to-day activities without becoming dependent on others.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

APHA Physical Activity Special Primary Interest Group (PA SPIG)
The groups mission is to provide a visible and credible home within APHA for PA researchers, practitioners, advocates and partners, help close the gap between science and practice, and integrate PA into APHA’s advocacy efforts.

Physical Activity for Everyone – Videos
From the CDC, these videos help explain the guidelines, give you tips on how to meet them and show you how to do muscle strengthening exercises properly.

RESEARCH TOOLS

Increasing the use of evidence in health policy: practice and views of policy makers and researchers
Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 2009, 6:21
Better communication is often suggested as fundamental to increasing the use of research evidence in policy, but little is known about how researchers and policy makers work together or about barriers to exchange. This study explored the views and practice of policy makers and researchers regarding the use of evidence in policy. The paper identifies four potential strategies for increasing the use of research in policy.

URBAN DESIGN

Where We Want To Be: Home Location Preferences And Their Implications For Smart Growth
Although market surveys indicate that most North American households preferred single-family homes, they also indicate strong and growing consumer preference for smart growth features such as accessibility and modal options (reflected as short commutes and convenient walkability to local services).

March 12, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Child Traffic Safety: Resource guide for educators, parents and the community
Every year in Alberta, approximately 400* children are injured or killed in pedestrian and bike related incidents. These tragedies are preventable….. Alberta Transportation Office of Traffic Safety launched a back-to-school safety program aimed at raising awareness about the importance of teaching children about pedestrian safety.

What is active transportation?
Information from the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Healthy Living Unit.

CHILDREN
Active and Safe Routes to School
Green Communities Active & Safe Routes to School is a comprehensive community-based initiative that taps into the increasingly urgent demand for safe, walkable neighborhoods. It promotes the use of active and efficient transportation for the daily trip to school, addressing health and traffic safety issues while taking action on air pollution and climate change.

Canadian Active & Safe Routes to School Partnership *NEW*
The Canadian Active & Safe Routes to School Partnership is a national group working to increase the number of school-aged children who travel to school using active, sustainable and safe modes of transportation.

CDC Kids Walk to School Resources
To support the national goal of better health through physical activity, CDC's Nutrition and Physical Activity Program has developed KidsWalk-to-School. This is a community-based program that aims to increase opportunities for daily physical activity by encouraging children to walk to and from school in groups accompanied by adults.

Kids Walk to School - A Guide to Promote Walking to School
KidsWalk-to-School is for anyone who wants to make traveling to and from school a safe, active, and enjoyable part of children’s lives again. The program is great for neighborhoods that have an elementary school within walking distance—usually within a mile. But the KidsWalk-to-School program can also be adapted for children of all ages, those who live in neighborhoods further from the school and those in neighborhoods without safe routes to school.

Way to go! School Program
The Way to Go! School Program is an active and safe routes to school initiative for communities in British Columbia, Canada. As of July 2008 The Way to Go! School Program is exclusively a web based resource. This website will provide you with the information and tools needed to help your school develop safer, healthier transportation alternatives as well as incorporate fitness, environmental awareness and a sense of community at your school.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Costs of Chronic Disease: Trends Alert
This 2006 US report notes that between 1980 and 2010, the portion of the nation’s GDP spent on health is projected to roughly double……

Keeping People with Diabetes Healthy
(2008) This brief informs state policymakers about what diabetes is, how it affects people and states, and what strategies can help improve diabetes management; it also provides examples of effective state programs.

COMMUNITY
BC Healthy Community Newsletter
Welcome to the first joint newsletter provided by BC Healthy Communities and the BC Healthy Living Alliance (BCHLA) Community Capacity Building strategy.

BC Healthy Living Alliance Newsletters
You can sign up to be on their distribution list or scroll down to read past issues.

HEALTHY EATING
Stay Active, Eat Healthy
Stay Active Eat Healthy encourages recreation facilities and local government buildings to make the healthy choice the easy choice for community members purchasing food or beverage products where they live, work, learn and play. (3 different sections for: site managers, industry or consumers).

OLDER ADULTS
Age-Friendly Communities
Presentation overview of the work that is being done by jurisdictions across Canada on Age-Friendly Communities, including support and promotion from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Keeping the Aging Population Healthy
(2007) State legislators can play a key role in preserving health in the aging population by promoting healthy aging, broadening the use of preventive services, facilitating healthy lifestyles, and supporting efforts to allow older Americans to remain independent and “age in place.”

Livable Communities: Aging and Disability
The Canadian Centre on Disability Studies is a consumer-directed, university affiliated centre, dedicated to research, education and information dissemination on disability issues nationally and internationally. Through our activities we promote full and equal participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of society.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Access to Recreation for Low-Income Families in Ontario: Promising Practices Guide
This Promising Practices Guide, funded by the Canadian Recreation and Parks Association (CPRA) “Everybody gets to play” initiative, provides examples of progressive and innovative policies and practices that can enhance access to recreation for low-income families in Ontario.

Preventing Diseases through Physical Activity
This (2007) Legislator Policy Brief provides state policymakers with key background information about physical activity among youth and adults and identifies proven, cost-effective policy and legislative strategies to promote active lifestyles.

WOMEN
Breaking Barriers not Bones: 2008 National report card on osteoporosis care
Physical activity is mentioned a number of times.

WHO Women and Physical Activity
Link to the updated web-site.

March 6, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Creating Walkable and Transit-Supportive Communities in Halton
Discussion paper identifies parameters/criteria that could/should be captured in the long-term land use planning process to encourage walkable and transit supportive communities. (Includes a great glossary of terms).

Walking and Cycling Reports
Links to a number of reports from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

CHILDREN
The benefits of physical activity for youth with developmental disabilities: A systematic review
American Journal of Health Promotion Volume 23, Issue 3
Results indicate that there is reasonably strong evidence that children and adolescents with developmental disabilities achieve health benefits from participation in group exercise programs, treadmill training, or therapeutic horse riding/ hippotherapy. There is also evidence, of a less strong degree, for health benefits from adapted skiing or aquatic programs.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Arthritis Pain May Keep People with Heart Disease Physically Inactive
The study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), found that arthritis is common among those having heart disease. Approximately 57 percent of adults with heart disease have arthritis.

Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance's Common Messages Project
The document includes a background on the need for common messages, an introduction to messages and related actions that health practitioners, organizations, and groups can take to collectively move forward in addressing chronic disease and its prevention.. (Includes a physical activity message.)

Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention - Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective.
“The report tells us what kinds and how many cancer cases can be prevented, and it details 48 specific policy recommendations that would significantly reduce the burden of cancer now affecting more than 1.4 million Americans every year.”

CONFERENCES
Weight of the Nation Conference, July 27-29, 2009
Weight of the Nation is designed to provide a forum to highlight progress in the prevention and control of obesity through policy and environmental strategies and is framed around four intervention settings: community, medical care, school, and workplace.

HEALTHY EATING
Ready-to-use presentation on nutrition labeling
Produced by Health Canada this presentation has been developed for anyone who is in a position to educate consumers about how to make informed food choices.

MISCELLANEOUS
Visual Periodic Table - Visual Literacy
“Here is a fun and useful tool to help you choose a presentation style! The color codes help you determine which of the options fit the data you have and the message you're trying to convey.”

OLDER ADULTS
Accelerometer Assessment of Physical Activity in Active, Healthy Older Adults
Journal of Aging and Physical Activity 17(1), January 2009
This study demonstrates the rich information that accelerometers provide about older adult activity patterns—information that might further our understanding of the relationship between physical activity and healthy aging.

Policies for Healthy Ageing: an Overview
The paper groups policies into four different types and within each, it describes the range of individual types of programs that can be brought to bear to enhance improved health of the elderly. A key policy issue in this area concerns whether such programs have a positive effect on health outcomes and whether they are cost effective. (Physical Activity is mentioned a number of times).

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Appropriate Physical Activity Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Regain for Adults (Position Stand)
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: Volume 41(2) February 2009pp 459-471
This updated Position Stand provides the physical activity workforce with the latest quality evidence on the most effective physical activity dose for preventing overweight and obesity and maintaining healthy weight. Optimum levels of physical activity outlined in the Position Stand should be adopted by existing and future physical activity and overweight/obesity programs to achieve the maximum population health benefits.

Be active, be healthy: a plan for getting the nation moving (UK)
Be active, be healthy establishes a new framework for the delivery of physical activity alongside sport for the period leading up to the London 2012 Olympic Games, Paralympic Games and beyond. Programs outlined in the plan will contribute to Government’s ambition of getting 2 million more people active by 2012 and have been designed to leave a lasting legacy from the Games.

Exercise Dose and Quality of Life
Archives of Internal Medicine Vol. 169 No. 3, February 9, 2009
Positive changes in all mental and physical aspects of quality of life, except bodily pain, were significantly related to physical activity. Higher doses of exercise were associated with larger improvements in mental and physical aspects of quality of life, giving a dose-response relationship. Additionally, these improvements occurred independently of both changes in weight and fitness.

URBAN DESIGN
Healthy spaces and places project (Australia)
The Healthy Spaces and Places project is developing a national planning guide and accompanying materials, addressing the relationship between people’s health and the built environment. (Be sure to look at the facts sheets found under the heading “links to further information”.

WOMEN
Mothers in Motion seeks Community Collaborators
A new section of the Mothers in Motion's website dedicated to Physical Activity Promoters who are assisting mothers of low socioeconomic status. Learn more about the barriers to this group, and find great tools and resources to assist you in structuring better programs to address accessibility, availability and affordability. In addition, CAAWS is seeking opportunities to collaborate with ten communities across Canada interested in developing and delivering a physical activity program and/or sport initiative for mothers of low socioeconomic status (LSES).

January 30, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Bike Route Toaster
BikeRouteToaster.com is a course creation application primarily aimed at Garmin Edge/Forerunner owners although other users without a GPS may also find it useful for planning rides. Courses are created using Google maps and then downloaded from the server.

Bikely
Put very simply, Bikely helps cyclists share knowledge of good bicycle routes. I entered “Edmonton” in to the search feature and it came up with 73 routes.

HEALTHY EATING
Enjoying healthier food and drinks at events
Caterers for groups and organizations can play an important role in supporting healthy eating, a key step in reducing one's risk of heart disease.

Sports nutrition handbook – Public health nutrition program
Brand new! 2009 from Alberta Health Services. “This package can help athletes, coaches and parents learn about nutrition for active people. Proper nutrition can help optimize performance, and everyone can play a part.”

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
The benefits of physical activity
Found on the Centers for Disease Control web-site – last updated December 2008.

British Columbia Physical Activity Strategy
The Strategy is committed to its goal to improve the health of British Columbians through leadership that enhances community action to promote physical activity, with a targeted focus on inactive 35-54 year olds.

British Journal of Sport Medicine January 2009, Volume 43, 1
There are lots of great articles in this issue. Information on physical activity in general, for children, for older adults, in the workplace and more.

Take a walk today
Tips to encourage walking - excellent example of an email that could be sent out to employees.

Walk On
Ontario Communities walkON, a program that will, over the next three years, help make 24 Ontario cities and towns more walkable.

What's Holding You Back? Overcoming Barriers to Physical Activity
This fact sheet provides tips on how to overcome personal barriers to physical activity.

URBAN DESIGN
Designing and planning for play: public space lessons
Bland playgrounds are restricting children’s creativity, with local authorities relying on an identical KFC, ‘kit, fence and carpet’, approach to design. This document has been published to encourage local authorities to seize this opportunity to create spaces that allow children to use their imagination, with natural play design.

Land in limbo - making the best use of vacant urban spaces: public space lessons
Land in limbo looks at how to transform these spaces into public assets. It outlines the obstacles faced, the actions required and the benefits to be gained from bringing vacant land back into use.

Public space lessons: Improving park performance
If a local authority wants to improve the performance of its green space services, where should it begin? And how will it know when it has succeeded?

WORKPLACE

Be active at work
Tips on easy ways to fit activity into your work day.

Ensuring a supportive environment at work
How to use the physical environment in and around your workplace to support your staff’s efforts to be physically active.

October 10, 2008

by Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Bicycles produced in the world
An interesting real time web-site that tracks bicycle vs. car production worldwide.

CHILDREN
Take a child outside week
An interesting initiative from the USA.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Chronic disease new tool launch
The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) has developed a chronic disease planning tool to aid in the prevention of chronic disease. The tool presents eight Critical Success Factors to strengthening chronic disease prevention and management, with guiding questions for each.

COMMUNITY
Centre of Expertise on Culture and Communities
The Centre of Expertise on Culture and Communities is a cultural research and development centre based at Simon Fraser University’s Vancouver campus.

Rural and remote health journal
The international electronic journal of rural and remote health research, education, practice and policy. There are 4 sections: North American, African, Australasian, and European.

HEALTHY EATING
Alberta Milk new nutrition and marketing website
This site is separate from the Alberta Milk site and contains nutrition information, recipes, newsletters, programs and more.

Healthy lunches to go
The Dietitians of Canada invites you to visit its Healthy Lunches to Go section and discover tips and recipes to make your job of packing healthy and delicious lunch a little easier.

Ontario public health standards mapped against the nutrition resource centre programs
This article provides descriptions of the Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC) programs and resources including the implementation process and available support materials. A general overview of the Ontario Public Health Standards is presented, followed by the specific standards and program requirements against which the specific NRC programs and resources are mapped.

OLDER ADULTS
Physical activity and enhanced fitness to improve cognitive function in older people without known cognitive impairment
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3, 2008
The data are insufficient to show that the improvements in cognitive function which can be attributed to physical exercise are due to improvements in cardiovascular fitness.

Physical activity programs for persons with dementia
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3, 2008
The authors conclude there is insufficient evidence to be able to say whether or not physical activity programs are beneficial for people with dementia.

Rethinking individual and community fall prevention strategies: a meta-regression comparing single and multifactorial interventions.
Comment in: Age Ageing. 2008 May;37(3):352-3; author reply 353.
They conclude: Multifactorial fall prevention interventions are effective for individual patients. However, for community programmes for populations at risk, targeted single interventions are as effective as multifactorial interventions, may be more acceptable and cost effective.

Standard Eight - The promotion of health and active life in older age
The aim of this standard is to extend the healthy life expectancy of older people.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Playing their part: the role of physical activity and sport in sustaining the health and well being of small rural communities
While an older publication – a good one J The authors suggest that physical activity and sport make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of rural people and their communities and suggest that further research is necessary to better define this apparent contribution.

August 22, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

CONFERENCES
9th International conference on walking
Barcelona October 8th – 10th, 2008

DISABILITY/ACCESSIBILITY
Accessible sidewalks
A four-part video developed by the U.S. Access Board to illustrate access issues and considerations in the design of sidewalks.- Part I: Design Issues for Pedestrians who use Wheelchairs (10.00 min.)- Part II: Design Issues for Pedestrians with Ambulatory Impairments (7.51 min.)- Part III: Design Issues for Pedestrians with Low Vision (11.24 min.)- Part IV: Design Issues for Pedestrians who are Blind (11.19 min.)Can be watched online; a free DVD is also available.

HEALTHY EATING
The links between the neighborhood food environment and childhood nutrition
“This paper identifies key investigations of the neighborhood food environment, examines current efforts to bring about improvements, and discusses new research and policy priorities.”

HEALTH GENERAL
A healthier America: 10Top Priorities for Prevention
Physical activity is mentioned throughout.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
The effect of a pedometer-based physical activity intervention on sitting time
Preventive Medicine, 2008, 47(2): 179-181. After 1 year of intervention, total, weekday, and weekend day sitting times were reduced in the intervention community, while sitting time increased in the comparison community.

Physical activity as a strategy for maintaining tobacco abstinence: A randomised trial
Preventive Medicine, 2008, 47(2): 215:220. PA promotion as an adjunct to tobacco treatment increases moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) levels; changes in MVPA predict sustained abstinence, perhaps by improving mood and self-efficacy.

URBAN DESIGN
A hierarchy of sociodemographic and environmental correlates of walking and obesity
Preventive Medicine, 2008, 47(2): 172:178. These analyses reveal that gender and ethnic subgroups display substantially different weight outcomes across different levels of walkability. In contrast, walking was consistently higher for all groups in the more walkable neighborhoods…... This information supports a more efficient use of scarce resources to promote physical activity and healthy body weight.

Our cities, our health, our future: Acting on social determinants for health equity in urban settings
Physical activity is mentioned throughout.

Why place matters: Building a movement for healthy communities
“The framework described in this report provides a way to understand the relationship between community conditions and health, analyzes the connections among all of the environmental factors that contribute to a healthy community, and identifies both protective and negative environmental effects on community health.”

August 15, 2008

by Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Active transportation plan for Minden (S. Ontario)
This report explains the goal of raising the physical activity levels through active transportation (AT) promotion and planning in the Village of Minden.

Active transportation plan - Facility planning and design guidelines
This report focuses on specific design features that should be considered in the implementation of (an) AT Plan, as well as all new pedestrian, trail and cycling facilities in the Halifax Region.

Steps toward a walkable city
This document presents a proposed framework for creating a Toronto Walking Strategy and outlines potential actions that could implement the strategy. This is not the Walking Strategy. It’s a framework for discussion.

Why we need sidewalks

CHILDREN

Childhood obesity surveillance and prevention
Welcome to National Knowledge Week 2008: Childhood Obesity Surveillance and Prevention - Content page. To support the (UK)Government ambition to reduce the proportion of overweight and obese children the topic focus for knowledge week is: Childhood Obesity Surveillance and Prevention.

Menu of choices
Menu of Choices is an online resource that provides the latest quality information and supports to understand, plan and address healthy eating in the school community.

CONFERENCES

Research conference on food, nutrition, physical activity and cancer
November 5, 6 & 7, 2008, Capital Hilton Hotel, Washington DC. This conference is the premier scientific forum on the links between cancer and food, nutrition, weight management and physical activity.

ENVIRONMENT

Canadian network for human health and the environment
A Canadian-based network of non-governmental, research, health professional and policy organizations focusing on human health and the impacts of environmental exposures.

HEALTHY EATING

Designed for disease: The link between local food environments and obesity and diabetes
This document examines the relationships between retail food environments, obesity and diabetes, and community income. The study demonstrates that people who live near an abundance of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores compared to grocery stores and fresh produce vendors, have a significantly higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes.”

Healthy weight – It’s not a diet it’s a lifestyle
A new CDC web-site. “Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn't just about a "diet" or "program". It is part of an ongoing lifestyle that you can adopt now and stay with for years to come. A healthy weight contributes to good health now and as you age.” Includes an entire section on physical activity for healthy weight.

OLDER ADULTS

Older Americans 2008: Key indicators of well being
Lots of information here, including stats/analysis on leisure time physical activity.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Healthy eating active living convergence partnership: Working together to create healthy people in healthy places
The Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership is 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.

Multilingual physical activity fact sheets
Fact sheets on walking, cycling, skating and more in Arabic and Chinese-Mandarin

Inaugural edition of the national library for public health newsletter
They have added two new focused topics to the library and one of them is physical activity.

US Bureau of labour statistics: Sport and exercise
What percentage of people (aged 15 years and older) who live in the United States participated in sports and exercise activities on an average day in recent years? About 16 percent. In comparison, consider that the number of people who watched television on an average day is roughly five times larger. These charts, which display data from the American Time Use Survey, take a closer look at people who spend time in sports and exercise activities.”

URBAN DESIGN

Built environment, adiposity, and physical activity in adults Aged 50–75
“Findings suggest the need for public health and city planning officials to address modifiable neighbourhood-level, built-environment characteristics to create more liveable residential communities aimed at both addressing factors that may influence unhealthy eating and promoting active, healthy lifestyles in this rapidly growing population.”

American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume 35, Issue 1, July 2008, Pages 38-46
Fuzhong Li PhD, Peter A. Harmer PhD, MPH, Bradley J. Cardinal PhD, Mark Bosworth MS, Alan Acock PhD, Deborah Johnson-Shelton PhD and Jane M. Moore PhD

Promising strategies for creating healthy eating and active living environments
There is growing recognition that creating healthy places - neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces – is essential to supporting healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. The following document presents a comprehensive and cross-cutting review of policy, strategy, and program recommendations to create healthy eating and active living environments. This review draws from the most prominent and promising strategies for change at national, state, and local levels.

Roadmap to improving food and physical activity environments. Tips and tools from the healthy eating, active communities program
For a long time, strategies to prevent or reduce obesity and to increase healthy eating and physical activity have focused on individuals….. Increasing evidence, though, shows that focusing only on individuals’ behavior won’t work – not when people live in environments that make changing their behavior difficult or even impossible.

Strategies for enhancing the built environment to support healthy eating and active living
This brief outlines a range of organizational practices and public policies being considered to improve the built environment in support of healthy eating and regular physical activity. It reflects diverse perspectives of professionals and advocates working on various aspects of the built environment.

Walkability and body mass index density, design, and new diversity measures
“Rising rates of overweight and obesity in the U.S. have increased interest in community designs that encourage healthy weight. This study relates neighbourhood walkability—density, pedestrian-friendly design, and two novel measures of land-use diversity—to residents' excess weight.”

American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume 35, Issue 3, September 2008, Pages 237-244 Ken R. Smith PhD, Barbara B. Brown PhD, Ikuho Yamada PhDd, Lori Kowaleski-Jones PhD, Cathleen D. Zick PhD and Jessie X. Fan PhD

WORKPLACE

http://www.bcbs.com/news/bluetvradio/workplace-wellness-programs/engaging-consumers-at-work-aggregate-report-employer-foru.pdf
Engaging Consumers@Work was established in 2006 as a research-based workplace initiative to study the impact of educational and activation program components on consumer/employee engagement in health.” (physical activity was one of the interventions)

Investing in health: Proven health promotion practices for workplaces
Investing in Health will help workplaces of all sizes choose effective health promotion practices at work. Includes information on “encouraging physical activity and healthy eating”.

Workplace physical activity FAQ
Provides answers to frequently asked questions about physical activity in the workplace.

July 31, 2008

by Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Neighborhood completeness indicator
The Neighborhood Completeness Indicator (NCI) is a quantitative spatial assessment tool measuring the proximity of San Francisco residents to daily goods and services in their neighborhoods.

CHILDREN

NutriSTEP(tm) (Nutrition Screening Tool for Every Preschooler)
A valid and reliable bilingual nutrition risk screening tool for preschool children, aged 3-5 years. Involves a parent-administered 17-item questionnaire that covers: food and nutrient intake, physical growth, developmental and physical capabilities, physical activity, food security and the feeding environment.

Stop playing games with childhood obesity Part II: Communication campaign evaluation results
In October 2007, the "Stop Playing Games with Childhood Obesity" campaign was launched in the City of Hamilton. Part II focuses on the evaluation of the campaign that included: a randomized telephone survey, an online survey for visitors to the campaign website, and web statistics tracking.

HEALTHY EATING

How to make healthy changes in your neighbourhood
Every neighborhood deserves to have clean, safe places to buy fruits and vegetables—and you and your family can help make these healthy changes. It’s not easy, but by working with local agencies you can get more grocery stores, community gardens, and farmers’ markets in your community.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

ACSM Brochures
The American College of Sports Medicine works to spread the benefits of physical activity. Includes the ‘selecting and effectively using’ series and the ‘healthy play’ series.

ACSM Current comments
ACSM Current Comments are fact sheets on a variety of health and fitness topics, including exercise, youth sports and health and more. There are 27 documents in the physical activity and exercise section.

ACSM Fit society page
ACSM Fit Society Page® newsletter is a quarterly electronic newsletter written for the general public on a variety of popular health and fitness topics.

Effect of exercise on 24-month weight loss maintenance in overweight women
The authors "demonstrate that sustained weight loss requires the continued achievement of 2000 kcal/wk of physical activity. They also show that providing treadmills and extensive group counselling on exercise will not achieve this for most patients."

URBAN DESIGN

Built environments as determinant of health
An emerging body of research points to various connections between community design and health issues. This fact sheet – developed to provide rationale for land use policy change – presents a brief summary of existing research, categorized by public health topic. It is intended to help public health practitioners work with planners toward land use policy solutions that improve community health.

Community health as a goal of good design
An emerging body of research points to various connections between community design and health issues. This fact sheet – developed to provide rationale for land use policy change – presents a brief summary of existing research, categorized by built environment issue. It is intended to help planners work with public health practitioners toward land use policy solutions that improve community health.

Healthy development measurement tool: A comprehensive evaluation metric to consider health needs in urban development

Zoning: Talking points
Zoning can promote land uses that allow and encourage individuals to make healthy choices – or it can do just the opposite.

July 24, 2008

Rosanne Prinsen, MSc
Resource Coordinator

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

City of Calgary draft pedestrian cycling policies

City of Halifax active transportation plan

City of Toronto walking strategy

Toronto coalition for active transportation
The Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) was formed in 2006 to give a unified voice to the many groups working for a better cycling and pedestrian environment in Toronto.

CHILDREN

Action Schools! BC: A school-based physical activity intervention designed to decrease cardiovascular disease risk factors in children
They conclude Action Schools! BC was an effective school-based physical activity model for improving the CVD risk profile of elementary-school children.

Increasing preschoolers' physical activity intensities: An activity-friendly preschool playground intervention
The results suggest simple interventions, requiring little teacher training, can yield increases in healthy physical activity.

Perceptions about the local neighborhood and walking and cycling among children
They conclude that ‘Perceptions of the local neighborhood may influence children's physical activity.’

HEALTHY EATING

Nutrient value of some common foods (NVSCF) booklet.
Just released by Health Canada "The NVSCF has just been updated and is now free of charge. This new version now emphasizes mixed dishes rather than just individual ingredients."

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

A randomized trial to increase physical activity among native elders
Physical inactivity is common among older populations and American Indians. Our objective was to compare two methods for increasing physical activity and walking among American Indian elders.

OLDER ADULTS

Effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention and a structured exercise intervention in older adults
This study evaluated the effects of a lifestyle intervention and a structured exercise intervention on physical activity in older adults.

The 24-h distribution of falls and person–hours of physical activity in the home are strongly associated among community-dwelling older persons
They found that older persons may be at increased risk of falling if they are encouraged to become more physically active, or if they often get out of bed at night. Thus in addition to health-related factors, changes in level of physical activity should also be taken into account when estimating a person's risk of falling.

May 2, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

CHILDREN

Accessible play spaces
Annex H of the CSA playground standard that includes information for people who want to incorporate accessibility into new or redeveloped play spaces.

Creating active playgrounds in primary schools
This case study has demonstrated that a supportive process enables environmental changes to be undertaken in primary school playgrounds that may increase students' physical activity levels.

It's not about the weight: It's about the person
This presentation encourages the participation of overweight and obese youth in physical activity, explains how to use language and develop attitudes in activity instruction that support increased participation, and how to identify and address self-handicapping issues.

Residential proximity to school and the active travel choices of parents
Despite the overall low prevalence of walking to school by parents, health-enhancing benefits may be achieved even when other modes of transport are used in conjunction with walking.

The contribution of preschool playground factors in explaining children’s physical activity during recess
Discover which aspects of the playground environment are associated with increasing physical activity in pre-schoolers.

Value of playgrounds to children
An explanation of the value play spaces provide to children.

CONFERENCES

Ophea’s kids’ health conference - Building active healthy school communities
Alliston, Ontario, October 16-18, 2008.

HEALTH PROMOTION

Beyond masculine stereotypes: Moving men's health promotion forward in Australia
The health promotion community needs to critically reflect on theoretical commentary relating to hegemonic masculinity and, more recently, multiple masculinities. This will provide greater capacity to tailor health promotion interventions to the most disadvantaged and marginalised populations of men in Australia.

MENTAL HEALTH

Effects of a walking program in the psychiatric in-patient treatment setting: A cohort study
Introducing a program of walking in a psychiatric in-patient setting is a potentially low-cost, low-risk, well-tolerated intervention that may have benefits extending beyond mental health.

The relationship between organised physical recreation and mental health
A literature review was undertaken to explore evidence relating to the mental health benefits of participation in organised physical recreation.

NUTRITION

Eating and activity: the importance of family and environment
The aim of this paper was to examine the eating behaviours, physical exercise and television viewing of secondary school students, and to investigate their relationship with parental monitoring and family cohesion.

Translated Canada's food guides now available
Canada’s Food Guide is now available in 10 languages in addition to English and French. Translated directly from the 2007 Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, they are available in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi (Persian), Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, and Urdu.

OLDER ADULTS

Joint pain survey results
Results of an arthritis survey done by the Active Living Coalition for Older Adults. “The research examined Canadians' feelings and perceptions about active living - awareness and understanding of the benefits of active living, thoughts about changing activity levels as they age, and barriers to living an active life at any age.”

Stay active – Stay independent
This article provides an example of a physical activity promotional program effectively targeting a key age group demographic.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GENERAL

Active living better practice case studies
Specific considerations to help create environments for active living are summarized for six key environments.

Participation in sports and physical recreation – Australia
Regular physical activity is beneficial to people's health and wellbeing. This article investigates the types of sports and physical recreation Australians engage in. Using data from the 2005–06 Multi-Purpose Household Survey, it focuses on the characteristics of participants as well as the main motivators for involvement and the main constraints given for not participating.

WOMEN

A brief report of attitudes towards physical activity during pregnancy
The study has clear indicators for developing education and health promotion programs that enable women to make informed choices about physical activity levels during pregnancy.