April 11, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Special issue of preventive medicine
http://tinyurl.com/4x7rbf
The January 2008 special issue of Preventive Medicine (Volume 46, Issue 1: pp. 1-84) focuses on self-transportation, public transportation, and health. Many of these articles are related to physical activity. Access is free.

BEHAVIOUR CHANGE

Choosing health: Making healthy choices easier:
Executive summary
http://tinyurl.com/2mld8w
Physical activity is mentioned many times.

Kings fund - Kicking bad habits: Resources
http://tinyurl.com/3nja27
Many interesting behavior change papers here.

Low-income groups and behavior change interventions:
A review of intervention content and effectiveness
http://tinyurl.com/4jlhob
Many physical activity interventions are included.

Partnerships for better health - Small change, big difference
http://tinyurl.com/2smqws
The Partnerships for Better Health report highlights the government's role in influencing non-statutory, commercial and not-for-profit sectors in securing public health goals. Through the report, case studies and best practice tips we are encouraging the greater use of such partnerships for health at a local level.

CHILDREN

Active education: Physical education, physical activity and academic performance
http://tinyurl.com/3wpvy4
It “summarizes peer-reviewed research on the relationship between physical activity and academic performance among children and adolescents”.

Childhood obesity
http://tinyurl.com/4kv5em
Facts and statistics (USA)

Childhood obesity toolkit
http://tinyurl.com/4pknny
“This Tool Kit provides (USA) policymakers with resources, data, trends and examples of solutions being implemented or considered by states and legislators across the country that aim to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic.”

Designing for active living among children
http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/builtdesign.pdf

Increasing preschoolers' physical activity intensities:
An activity-friendly preschool playground intervention
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/AusPAnet
_Article_Commentary_3
Find out how to effectively increase physical activity in preschoolers.

Promoting good nutrition and physical activity in child-care settings
http://tinyurl.com/4rgg9o

Push play parents (New Zealand)
http://www.sparc.org.nz/getting-active
/push-play-parents
"....ideas to help you get your kids moving. Choose the age group that applies to your child and you'll be well on your way to becoming a Push Play Parent."

Unplug and play - Parent campaign (Australia)
http://tinyurl.com/ytvysd
The Unplug + Play Parent Campaign targets parents in Western Australia, to increase their awareness of the urgent need for children to spend more time in active play and less time using TV, electronic games and the Internet for entertainment.

CHRONIC DISEASE

Talking points on preventing disease through physical activity
http://tinyurl.com/2gxlb5
“Describes the effects of being inactive, benefits of PA, associated disparities, and action items for state legislators.”

Trends alert: Cost of chronic disease
http://tinyurl.com/469too
From the USA – published in 2006

GENERAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Balance: a report on state action to promote nutrition,
increase physical activity and prevent obesity
http://www.healthyeatingresearch.org/
uploads/Balance122006.pdf

CDC community health resources
http://www.cdc.gov/communityhealthresources
The site features direct links to hundreds of resources, including program guidelines and recommendations, campaign materials, handbooks, fact sheets, evaluation frameworks, and behavioral and risk factor data, among other topics. For physical activity information, click on "Physical Activity" under "Browse by health topic."

Getting to know the competition: A content analysis
of publicly and corporate funded physical activity advertisements
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/AusPAnet
_Article_Commentary_4
Learn more about what was discovered when a content analysis of physical activity advertisements was carried out.

HEALTH PROMOTION

Ontario prevention clearinghouse now the Health Nexus
http://www.healthnexus.ca
Effective April 1, 2008 the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse became Health Nexus. This is a bilingual web-site.

OLDER ADULTS

Keeping the aging population healthy
http://tinyurl.com/53a4fr
“This (USA)Legislator Policy Brief provides policymakers with key information to develop strategies to enhance health and preserve independence in the growing aging population.”

Silversneakers fitness program
http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2008/
jan/07_0148.htm
A CDC-funded study conducted by Group Health and the University of Washington reports that older adults who participated in the SilverSneakers Fitness Program visited their primary and specialty physicians more often, were admitted to the hospital less, and had lower overall healthcare costs compared to a control group of over 9,000 people who were the same age and gender.

WOMEN

Physical activity, pregnancy & postpartum inventory of resources
http://tinyurl.com/3vak8o

March 28, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Be aware of cyclists
http://www.dothetest.co.uk/
Great cycling ad from the UK

Halifax Regional Municipality active transportation plan
http://www.halifax.ca/TDM/
activetransportation/index.html

CHILDREN

A comparative case study on active transport to and from school http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/
2008/apr/07_0064.htm
This study investigates active-transport-to-school initiatives through the Active Living by Design Community Action Model framework. The framework outlines five strategies that influence physical activity: preparation, promotion, programs, policies, and physical projects.

Not gonna kill you
http://www.notgonnakillyou.ca/
A new web-site managed by the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion. The target audience is youth.

Rural-urban differences in physical activity, physical fitness, and overweight prevalence of children
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/
AusPAnet_Article_Commentary_7
This research looked at the differences in physical activity prevalence, physical fitness, and overweight levels of children living in urban, semi-urban and rural areas in Iowa in the United States.

Transition game
http://www.lin.ca/Files/10200/
Spelling.htm
“One of the greatest times of risk working with children and youth is a lull in classroom and recreation activities when your guard is down. A transition game can be a bridge between different classroom and recreation activities...”

WANTED: Schools to participate in the SMART tool Project
Ever Active Schools has teamed up with the Centre for Health Promotion – Children, Youth, and Women’s Health Service South Australia to pilot their SMART tool in 100 schools in Alberta. Ever Active Schools is currently seeking schools to participate in the SMART Tool Pilot Project. For more information or to participate in the project survey please contact Jardath Nelson at jnelson@brsd.ab.ca

CHRONIC DISEASE

The Sydney Resolution - February 2008
Healthy people in healthy places on a healthy planet
http://www.oxha.org/meetings/
08-summit/sydney-resolution
An advocacy call to take action to halt the impact of chronic disease.

CONFERENCES

Integrated Chronic Disease Prevention: Taking Action Together
http://www.cdpac.ca/conference/
content.php?sec=5
CDPAC 2008 Conference Ottawa November 26th – 28th.

GENERAL HEALTH

Health literacy and health promotion: A compilation
http://tinyurl.com/2pwrds
“Research shows a strong link between low health literacy and poor health, and that low health literacy may contribute to higher health service costs.”

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to build a healthier America
http://www.commissiononhealth.org/
AboutUs.aspx
“The Commission will look beyond the medical care system to investigate how factors such as education, environment, income, housing and personal health choices impact the health of all Americans.”

GENERAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Step conversion chart
http://www.corp.delta.bc.ca/stepsout/
steps_equivalencies.pdf
Comprehensive 12 page listing of conversions - with references to academic research. From the Delta, BC web-site.

Walking the way to health Wales
http://www.ww2h.org.uk/
Designed for health professionals.

MENTAL HEALTH

Physical activity and likelihood of depression in adults: A review.
http://tinyurl.com/2wvvpm
This review presents up to date evidence on the links between physical activity and the risks of developing depression.

MULTILINGUAL & MULTICULTURAL RESOURCES

Canadian Cancer Society
http://tinyurl.com/ypqvm6

Canadian Diabetes Association
http://www.diabetes.ca/
section_main/translations.asp

Cultural adaptations of Canada's food guide to healthy eating
http://www.nutritionrc.ca/guide.html

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
http://tinyurl.com/2y289p

Ontario Public Health Association: Physical activity guides
http://www.opha.on.ca/resources/
multilingual/physical.html

OLDER ADULTS

Community-wide campaign to promote activity among midlife & older adults: Lessons learned from AARP's Active for Life campaign and a synopsis of evidence-based interventions
http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/
articles/health/pagefive.pdf
Find out what makes an effective physical activity campaign for adults over 50 years of age.

March 14, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

CHILDREN

After school programs in the 21st century
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/afterschool
/resources/issuebrief10/
Do afterschool programs make a difference and if they do what is it about the program that makes it work?

CONFERENCES

CDPAC 3rd national conference – Call for abstracts
http://www.cdpac.ca/media.php?mid=393
Ottawa November 24th – 26th 2008

GENERAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

A review of public exercise stations and trails in the ACT
http://catalogue.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2000/nhf/
publicexercisestations.pdf
A user survey of a select range of facilities clearly indicated that the use of the stations is low and that the cost of a regular maintenance regime would be high relative to the low usage. The majority of trails on the other hand (with or without stations) are used frequently for walking/cycling/jogging. This finding is consistent with evidence that the majority of people prefer to walk as a regular form of activity.

A field survey undertaken to evaluate condition, safety and effectiveness of each of the stations and trails revealed that the majority of exercise stations have not been maintained and are in poor working order. There are safety risks associated with poorly maintained and/or inappropriately designed/located exercise equipment.

HEALTH

Unnatural causes
http://www.pbs.org/unnaturalcauses/
A new PBS series about “why some of us get sicker more often and die sooner and what causes us to fall ill in the first place….. Compelling personal stories illustrate obstacles and inequities in society but they also point the way to new possibilities, as individuals and communities organize to gain control over their destinies and their health.

Airing nationally four consecutive Thursdays (March 27, April 3, 10, 17 at 10 PM) on most PBS stations.

HEALTH LITERACY

A vision for a health literate Canada
http://www.cpha.ca/en/portals/h-l.aspx
Links to the executive summary and full report from the Canadian Public Health Association.

HEALTHY WEIGHT

Measured BMI data now available
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/surveill/atlas/index_e.html
Choose “view maps for each indicator” from the right hand navigation column to go to the statistics.

State of the evidence review on urban health and healthy weights
http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=GR_1929_E
“The resulting analyses provide a high-level overview of the strengths of and gaps in the research on associations between urban environments and healthy weights.”


URBAN PLANNING

Complete streets bill introduced in US senate
http://blog.smartgrowthamerica.org/?p=137
“The Complete Streets Act of 2008 would encourage towns, cities, and metropolitan planning organizations to consider the needs of all users when building new roads or improving existing roads.”

MISCELLANEOUS

The Interviewing Cheat Sheet: 100 Resources for interviewers and candidates http://www.hrworld.com/features/interviewing-cheat-sheet-092507/
Resources for interviewers, answers for candidates, types of interviews, interviewing techniques and advice, interviewing strategies for candidates and more.

March 7, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Economic assessment of transport infrastructure and policies: Methodological guidance on the economic appraisal of health effects related to walking and cycling
http://tinyurl.com/2nll3h
This new document from the WHO provides guidance on approaches to the inclusion of health effects through transport-related physical activity in economic analyses of transport infrastructures and policies.

CHILDREN

Assessment of an after-school physical activity program to prevent obesity among 9- to 10-year-old children: a cluster randomized trial.
http://tinyurl.com/3e3zf2

Gym class can boost other grades
http://tinyurl.com/2oy6ac
The Vancouver Sun (Fri 29 Feb 2008 Source: Reuters) reports on a new U.S. study that suggests spending time in gym class can actually help to boost elementary school children's grades.

Outcomes of Switch-Play: A trial to prevent excess weight gain, reduce screen behaviors and promote physical activity in 10-year olds
http://tinyurl.com/yuja9s
Learn about the effectiveness of the Switch-Play intervention that is based in Melbourne, Victoria.

Unplug + Play parent campaign
http://tinyurl.com/ytvysd
The Heart Foundation's Unplug + Play Parent Campaign targets parents' awareness of the need for children to spend more time in active play and less time using TV, electronic games and the Internet.

CONFERENCES

International conference on childhood obesity: Evidence and practice from Exercise Science
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/spe/obesity
2008/announce_eng.html
Target Attendants: Exercise scientists, health professionals, PE teachers, policy makers, researchers, students in related areas, and those who have an interest in the prevention and intervention of childhood obesity.

COMMUNITIES

Age-friendly rural and remote communities: A guide
http://tinyurl.com/3dlwxz
The federal/provincial/territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors and the Public Health Agency of Canada, in partnership with nine provinces, the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors and Guysborough County, have developed the Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Communities: A Guide. Complementing this guide is a research report detailing the focus group findings specifically from Guysborough County.

Measuring up
http://www.2010legaciesnow.
com/measuring_up/
Measuring Up helps B.C. communities assess and improve how accessible and inclusive they are for people with disabilities and for the whole community.

GENERAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Motivators and constraints to participation in sports and physical recreation
http://tinyurl.com/2895kb
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has produced a new report on the associations between participation in sport and activity and motivations and constraints across different demographic groups.

Promoting or creating built or natural environments that encourage and support physical activity
http://tinyurl.com/3dm629
From the U.K. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence – 2008

With moderate exercise, you can lower your stroke risk
http://tinyurl.com/2uhff8
By engaging in moderate exercise, new research finds both men and women can lower the risk of stroke.

HEALTHY EATING

Using healthy eating and active living initiatives to reduce health disparities
http://tinyurl.com/3atplv
“Healthier eating and being physically active can significantly improve health. In low income communities and communities of color, it can reduce health disparities. This report identifies key lessons from eight (USA) national programs for making healthy eating and active living initiatives successful in reducing health disparities.”

HEALTHY WEIGHT

Motivators and constraints to participation in sports and physical recreation
http://tinyurl.com/2895kb
The Australian Bureau of Statistics have produced a new report on the associations between participation in sport and activity and motivations and constraints across different demographic groups.

MISCELLANEOUS

Mythbusters teaching resource
http://www.fcrss.ca/mythbusters/
teaching-resource.php
The CHSRFoundation's new online Mythbusters Teaching Resource is a resource to facilitate instructors of graduate-level classes to teach students how to write plain-language research summaries for policy makers, managers and others.

February 22, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE LIVING

Healthy living comes to town: Developing a statewide campaign for active living
http://www.bikewalk.net/presentations/
LeighAnnVonHagen.pdf
(PDF Format - 6MB)

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Climate emissions by travel type
http://tinyurl.com/2plf3p
"Charts CO2 emissions by transportation mode, from an SUV to a plane to a bus. The best strategy for reducing your impact: walk, bike, or fill up a seat that's already going your way!"

Ontario drops PST on most bikes
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/
notices/rst/61.html
Starting on December 1, 2007, Ontario dropped the PST on bicycles under $1,000.00, bike helmets and other cycling safety equipment. It’s part of the province’s plan to encourage more people to get active.

CHILDREN

Smart Moves Queensland
http://www.pando.com.au/san/
articles/story/38234.html
The State Government have launched a new school physical activity program, called Smart Moves, as part of the "Year of Physical Activity" in Queensland.

GENERAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The association between physical activity in leisure time and leukocyte telomere length
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/
AusPAnet_Article_Commentary_2

Scottish Physical Activity and Health Alliance (PAHA) briefing papers http://www.healthscotland.com/
physical-activity-publications.aspx
The Scottish Physical Activity and Health Alliance (PAHA) produces briefing papers on key topics, including two new papers on physical activity, inequalities and the importance of sedentary behaviour. (There is lots of other good info here.)

Sport participation in Canada 2005
http://www.statcan.ca/english/
research/81-595-MIE/81-595-MIE2008060.htm
Click on the link in the left-hand navigation column to download the 101-page report.

HEALTHY WEIGHT

Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A cross government strategy for England http://tinyurl.com/36rp5h
This new strategy, produced by the Department of Health in England, aims to support people to maintain a healthy weight. It includes a large section on "building physical activity into our lives."

MISCELLANEOUS

How does copyright infringement apply to the Internet?
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/
tips/ST05-004.html

February 15, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

CHILDREN

Exercise balls replace chairs at Simcoe elementary school
http://tinyurl.com/2jn3ft
The Simcoe Reformer reports that students are bouncing off the wall over their new seating arrangement at Elgin Avenue Public School …

Nova Scotia pumps up phys-ed. requirements
http://tinyurl.com/2tn6yu
The Cape Breton Post reports that starting next fall, new Nova Scotia high school students will be expected to enrol in at least one full credit of physical education in order to graduate …

CONFERENCES/ LEARNING

National Physical Activity Institute
http://www.canadainmotion.ca/
registration.php
June 23-25, 2008: In Motion Manulife National Physical Activity Institute, hosted at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.

GENERAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Clinic-based support to help overweight patients with type 2 diabetes increase physical activity and lose weight
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/18227359?dopt=Abstract

ParticipACTION newsletter needs a name
http://www.lin.ca/resource-details/9919

Statistics Canada Report on Sport Participation
http://www.lin.ca/resource-details/9917
Barely three out of every 10 Canadians aged 15 and over participated regularly in one or more sports in 2005, a dramatic decline from the early 1990s when the proportion was closer to one-half ….

HEALTHY WEIGHT

The Heart and Stroke Foundation's new national healthy waists initiative is live!
http://tinyurl.com/3y34xg
What is Healthy Waists all about? The purpose of the Healthy Waists website is to help Canadians understand that they may be at increased risk for heart disease and stroke if their waistlines exceed a certain size. The website displays a video as well as written instruction to explain how to measure waists properly.

URBAN DESIGN

Safety benefits of smart growth design
http://www.planetizen.com/
node/28523
Includes references to Larry Frank’s work.

Speeding on arterial roads
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001wPHqVN6_pjik8iPScRF
1eiUB3tIWWjy7jtlO7yhdVXJ1YeI2keMbD-f
DNj5NtV3qZynIPMQqo-i_kzg3u3MK9ZFdi_
SmmLfSTybwIKBQ2SIjyh9UC7q0GA==
Forty-five per cent of speeding deaths occur on arterial roads. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety last year looked at arterial roads with posted limits of 40 or 45 mph in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, Omaha, Tampa, and Washington, D.C. Arterial roads aren't built to the same safety standards as interstates and have much higher crash rates.

WALKING

A meta-analysis of pedometer-based walking interventions and weight loss
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/18195317?dopt=Abstract

Interventions to promote walking: systematic review
http://health-evidence.ca/
articles/show/17214

Pedestrians 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2l87wl
The Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2002 "includes 16 papers that explore a healthier way to travel, level of service of the urban walking environment and pedestrian route choice behavior, estimating nonmotorized travel demand, pedestrian counting methods at intersections, deficiencies in Florida pedestrian crash data, and methods to prioritize pedestrian high-crash locations.” Cost: $55.

WELLNESS

BC atlas of wellness (updated Jan. 10, 2008)
http://www.geog.uvic.ca/wellness/
This Atlas presents data on the geography of wellness in British Columbia. The Atlas covers topics such as:

• Assets and determinants.
• The geography of smoking behaviours and policies in B.C.
• The geography of nutrition and food security in B.C.
• The geography of physical activity in B.C. (this part is 37Mb)
• The geography of healthy weight in B.C.
• The geography of healthy pregnancy in B.C.
• The geography of wellness outcomes in B.C.

WORKPLACE

Workplaces in Motion launches in Manitoba
http://tinyurl.com/2rrsgn
Workplaces in Motion is a new component of the Manitoba in motion program that will encourage employees and employers to build physical activity into their daily lives at work …

February 1, 2008

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Resource Coordinator, Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

A synthesis of research addressing the view of children, young people and parents on walking and cycling for transport.
http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/
Default.aspx?tabid=942

CHILDREN

Clinton Foundation: Go healthy challenge
http://tinyurl.com/33cjlh
“The Go Healthy Challenge is a comprehensive on-air, online and grassroots campaign that encourages kids across the country to make their lives, friends and family, and communities healthier.”

NFL Rush
http://www.nflrush.com/
Interactive website geared toward children.

BEST PRACTICES/EVIDENCE

EPPI Centre
http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/
Default.aspx?tabid=56
“The EPPI-Centre conducts systematic reviews of research evidence across a range of topics and works with a large number of funders. Major areas include: Education, Health Promotion.”

New & improved health evidence website
http://health-evidence.ca/
An updated website from Health-Evidence.ca.

INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES

Healthy Johor Bahru City 2005
http://tinyurl.com/384e4a
“Healthy City Program
People in cities, particularly the poor, experience stresses and exposures that result in health problems ranging from communicable diseases and malnutrition to mental illnesses and chronic respiratory diseases.

“Conditions that contribute to this situation include poverty, inadequate food and shelter, insecure tenure of land, physical crowding, poor waste disposal, unsafe working conditions, inadequate local government services, overuse of harmful substances and environmental pollution.”

National centre for health statistics (U.S.A.)
http://tinyurl.com/2njdwz
Scroll down the page a bit to see the 2005-06 questionnaire files for physical activity & physical activity individual activity file information.

Physical health law of the People's Republic of China
http://english.gov.cn/2006-02/
08/content_182552.htm
“The Nationwide Physical Fitness Program has set targets that, by 2010, about 40 percent of China's population will participate in regular physical exercise, there will be a clear improvement in the national physique and a major increase in the number of fitness sites so as to satisfy people's needs for keeping fit.”