April 8, 2010

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Active Community Transportation Act of 2010 (USA)
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out an active transportation investment program to encourage a mode shift to active transportation within selected communities by providing safe and convenient options to bicycle and walk for routine travel, and for other purposes.

Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach
This report has been developed in response to widespread interest for improving both mobility choices and community character through a commitment to creating and enhancing walkable communities. Many agencies will work towards these goals using the concepts and principles in this report to ensure the users, community and other key factors are considered in the planning and design processes used to develop walkable urban thoroughfares.

Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation
The Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation is a statewide, not-for-profit, membership organization that advocates advancement of bicycling access, safety and education in Missouri.

Transport Canada - Improving Travel Options in Small and Rural Communities
This guide is intended to help practitioners—engineers, planners, health professionals, economic development officials and others—to improve travel options for residents of small and rural communities. This includes a range of actions that make personal transportation activities more sustainable— encouraging drivers to operate their cars more efficiently, or to leave their cars at home and walk, cycle, take transit or carpool instead.

Valuing Bicycling’s Economic and Health Impacts in Wisconsin
This study estimates the economic impact of bicycle recreation and tourism in Wisconsin to be $924,211,000, and the total potential value of health benefits from reducing short car trips and increasing bicycle trips to total $409,944,167. The results of this study demonstrate that bicycling has the potential to contribute substantially to the health and economic well being of Wisconsin citizens.

Walk This Way: Recognising Value in Active Health Prevention
In 2009 the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) was commissioned by Natural England to explore the opportunities and barriers to getting more people walking. The resulting report offers practical guidance and support on key components of successful walking initiatives that physical activity and health professionals can use to make the case for investment in walking.

CHILDREN

Active Healthy Kids Canada – Report Card
The Report Card is coming early this year! Look out for the Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on April 27, 2010.

Each year, our Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth examines physical activity opportunities for kids all across Canada.

Active School Travel Project Goes Nationwide
Green Communities Canada announced [March 16] the national expansion of a project that makes it safer for students to use active transportation methods like walking and cycling to travel to and from school. Funding of $2.1 million from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and the Public Health Agency of Canada will enable School Travel Planning (STP) to reach 120 schools, resulting in healthier, happier students and reducing the incidence of chronic disease.

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. We're an Ontario-wide initiative helping to inspire individuals, families, communities, businesses, and government to spark collective change to help children become more physically active and eat healthier foods.

Tackling obesity through the healthy child programme: A framework for action
This document was commissioned to inform the development of the Department of Health’s (UK) work on obesity in early years. It draws on some of the existing and emerging evidence on obesity and early years and sets out key actions for practitioners to effectively support mothers and fathers in encouraging healthy nutrition and physical activity.

DISABILITY

London 2012: A legacy for disabled people
Published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), this document lays out the Government’s vision and commitment to delivering a lasting legacy for disabled people from hosting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY

Healthy Habits, Healthy Weights: A Practical Guide to Weight Management
A resource from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation. Physical activity is mentioned 16 times in this 25 page document. It also includes a link to a physical activity log.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

BHF Exercise Referral Toolkit - now live
The toolkit is not designed as a 'blueprint' for how exercise referral schemes must be designed, implemented and evaluated; it offers some best practice principles for all those involved in the delivery, management and commissioning of exercise referral schemes. It is for individual schemes to consider whether the implementation of these principles will improve the design, delivery and effectiveness of their scheme, given the capacity and resources available.

Economic costs of physical inactivity fact sheet - UK
This fact sheet summarizes some of the key facts and figures on the disease burden of physical inactivity and the associated healthcare and economic costs.

Get Active for Life: Your guide to an active lifestyle
A resource from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Global Advocacy for Physical Activity
GAPA aims to provide interested stakeholders with communications and resources to help the development, dissemination and implementation of national policies, programs and services that promote physical activity and health.

Joint Use of Community Resources
Joint use is a way to increase opportunities for children and adults to be more physically active. It refers to two or more entities — usually a school and a city or private organization — sharing indoor and outdoor spaces like gymnasiums, athletic fields and playgrounds. The concept is simple: share resources to keep costs down and communities healthy.

URBAN DESIGN

Healthy Urban Development Checklist: A guide for health services when commenting on development policies, plans and proposals
The purpose of the Checklist is to help build the capacity of NSW Health to provide valuable feedback to local councils, and other relevant organisations, on health issues in relation to urban development plans and proposals. It is intended that the use of the Guideline will facilitate strengthened partnerships and collaboration between NSW Health and urban planners and developers as part of NSW Health's initiatives to promote healthy communities in NSW.

Shaping Active, Healthy Communities – A Heart and Stroke Foundation Built Environment Toolkit for Change
The tool kit is a national resource, available in both French and English. Currently it can be downloaded at no cost online on the Heart and Stroke Foundation website at http://www.heartandstroke.ca/HealthyCommunities. Pending additional funding, print copies may become available.

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

January 11, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Cycling resources from Australia (Queensland Department of Transport).
This series of notes is designed to assist planners and engineers provide for cycling in their local area. (The ink takes you to a main page with links to many different documents/resources)

Integrating Bicycling and Public Transport in North America
This paper provides an overview of bike-transit integration in large American and Canadian cities. It begins with an analysis of national trends in bike-and-ride programs such as the provision of bike racks on buses, accommodation of bikes on rail vehicles, and bike parking at rail stations and bus stops. Most of the paper, however, is devoted to case studies of bike-transit integration in six large American cities (San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington, and New York) and two Canadian cities (Vancouver and Toronto).

Seattle Crosswalk: Tap foot, Lights blink, Cross street
A unique pedestrian-activated crosswalk that blinks as people cross. Includes video.

Bad crosswalk round about design
A 3-minute video of pedestrians and bicyclists trying to cross what appears to be the exit of a very busy roundabout. The phrase "you can't get there from here" comes to mind...

CHILDREN
Effective elements of school health promotion across behavioral domains: A systematic review of reviews
Most school health education programs focus on a single behavioral domain. Integrative programs that address multiple behaviors may be more efficient, but only if the elements of change are similar for these behaviors. The objective of this study was to examine which effective elements of school health education are similar across three particular behavioral domains.

Go Out and Play: Youth Sports in America
This study measures the nationwide participation rates of girls and boys in exercise and organized team sports. The central focus is on how the intersections among families, schools and communities are related to children’s involvement and interest in athletics and physical activity.

Safe Routes to School Putting Traffic Safety First: How Safe Routes to School Initiatives Protect Children Walking and Bicycling
From the safe routes to school national partnership (USA)

DISABILITY
Pathways Between Physical Activity and Quality of Life in Adults With Multiple Sclerosis
Health Psychology Volume 28, Issue 6, November 2009, Pages 682-689

The observed pattern of relationships supports the possibility that physical activity is indirectly associated with improved QOL through pathways that include fatigue, pain, social support, and self-efficacy in individuals with MS.

Sport and Physical Activity in the Life of a Man with Cerebral Palsy: Compensation for Disability with Psychosocial Benefits and Costs
Psychology of Sport and Exercise Article in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Cadeyrn J. Gaskin, Mark B. Andersen, and Tony Morris

The life history of (this subject) illustrates the benefits and costs of trying to compensate for disabilities through sport and physical activity. In (his) life, sport and physical activity both promoted and impeded (his) psychosocial development.

OLDER ADULTS
Effects of a physical training and nutritional intervention program in frail elderly people regarding habitual physical activity level and activities of daily living—A randomized controlled pilot study
Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics Article in Press, Corrected Proof
Elisabeth Rydwika, Kerstin Frändinb and Gunnar Aknerc

The present study adds data on physical activity level and ADL and indicates that physical training increased the habitual physical activity level in frail elderly people and that this increase remained over time for six months. Increase in physical activity and degree of home-based exercises were moderately related to improvements in ADL. The nutrition intervention did not add any extra benefit. Studies with larger sample sizes and targeted interventions towards behavioral and environmental factors are necessary before any further conclusions can be drawn.

OVEWRWEIGHT/OBESITY
CDC's Recommended Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
This manual describes 24 recommended strategies by the CDC to encourage and support healthy eating and active living. In addition, a single measure is provided for each strategy to help communities track their progress over time.

Telephone intervention promoting weight-related health behaviors
Preventive Medicine Article in Press
Youngmee Kim, Joanne Pike, Heather Adams, Di Cross, Colleen Doyle and John Foreyt

The Nutrition and Physical Activity (NuPA) study was designed to promote fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, and weight management for a working population.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Effective Techniques in Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Interventions: A Meta-Regression
Health Psychology Volume 28, Issue 6, November 2009, Pages 690-701

Meta-analyses of behavior change (BC) interventions typically find large heterogeneity in effectiveness and small effects. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of active BC interventions designed to promote physical activity and healthy eating and investigate whether theoretically specified BC techniques improve outcome.

Randomised controlled trial of a pedometer-based telephone intervention to increase physical activity among cardiac patients not attending cardiac rehabilitation
Patient Education and Counseling Article in Press
Susan Furber, Lyra Butler, Philayrath Phongsavan, Andrew Mark and Adrian Bauman

The findings that the pedometer-based telephone intervention was successful in increasing physical activity levels in cardiac patients who did not attend a CRP could result in major health benefits for this group of people.

WOMEN
Effects of recommended levels of physical activity on pregnancy outcomes
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Article in Press
Katarina Melzer PhD et al

Active women have better aerobic fitness as compared to inactive women. The risk for operative delivery is lower in active women compared to inactive, when controlled for birthweight, maternal weight gain, and parity. Further studies with larger sample size are required to confirm the association between physical activity and pregnancy outcomes.

WORKPLACE
Workplace physical activity and nutrition interventions
This evidence module provides an overview of the best evidence currently available about workplace health promotion programs to promote physical activity, healthy diet or both and prevent overweight and obesity. It synthesises findings and recommendations from multiple systematic reviews and recent reports.

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.

October 8, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
How to Get More Bicyclists on the Road: To boost urban bicycling, figure out what women want
“If you want to know if an urban environment supports cycling, you can forget about all the detailed ‘bikeability indexes’—just measure the proportion of cyclists who are female,” says Jan Garrard, a senior lecturer at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

Seeking and Valuing Win-Win Built Environment Investments for Healthy and Sustainable Travel
This study aims to identify and evaluate win-win built environment improvement strategies that would simultaneously promote sustainable and healthy travel behavior. Furthermore, the paper presents a quantitative assessment of the economic return of promising built environment improvement strategies by estimating and comparing the associated health benefits against construction costs.

CHILDREN
Evaluation of a Walking School Bus for Promoting Physical Activity in Youth
Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 2009, 6: 560-567.
Results revealed that school-wide prevalence of walking to school at least half of the time was 27% higher in the intervention schools than in the control school. The interventions students were significantly more active than control students, doing an average of 78 versus 67 minutes of physical activity each day.

Get Set 4 Life - Habits for Healthy Kids Guide
This Guide provides practical information on children’s health and covers techniques and tips for teaching children healthy habits that could last a lifetime. Key areas of health and age appropriate development covered in the booklet include: healthy eating, regular exercise, speech and language, oral health and more.

Leadership for Healthy Communities Action Strategies Toolkit: A Guide for Local and State Leaders Working to Create Healthy Communities and Prevent Childhood Obesity
The strategies outlined in this document are divided into several policy areas in order to increase awareness of the promising and evidence-based policy options to reduce childhood obesity.

Presentations from the August Safe Routes to School National Conference
A number of the PDF versions of the presentations are available for download. We are updating these presentations daily as we receive them from the speakers- please check back regularly.

School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6-18
Given that there are no harmful effects and that there is some evidence of positive effects on lifestyle behaviours and physical health status measures, ongoing physical activity promotion in schools is recommended at this time.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Implementing Exercise: What Do We Know? Where Do We Go?
Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease Volume 16, Issue 6, November 2009, Pages 536-544
This article reviews what is known regarding the implementation of exercise and provides suggestions as to how exercise counseling might become a routine part of the care of patients with chronic kidney disease.

DISABITLITY/ACCESSIBILITY
Including People with Disabilities in Coordinated Transportation Plans
It provides ideas and suggestions for increased involvement by people with disabilities, who have a perspective essential to the success of coordinated planning.

HEALTH – GENERAL
Healthy Futures for BC Families — Policy Recommendations for Improving the Health of British Columbians
The Report contains 45 recommendations covering such areas as early childhood development, housing, food security, income security, transportation and supportive environments. Physical activity is also mentioned.

Measure Up! Campaign: Phase One Evaluation results
The evaluation for Phase One of the Measure Up campaign was conducted through a series of surveys with the target audience.

OLDER ADULTS
Does a home based strength and balance programme in people aged 80 years provide the best value for money to prevent falls?: A systematic review of economic analyses of falls prevention interventions
British Journal of Sports Medicine On-line first
The authors found single factor interventions to be most cost effective.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
Moving beyond 'rates, roads and rubbish': How do local governments make choices about healthy public policy to prevent obesity?
Semi structured interviews were conducted with representatives of local government in Australia. Factors most likely to facilitate policy change were those supported by external funding, developed from an evidence base and sensitive to community and market forces. Barriers to change included a perceived or real lack of power to make change and the complexity of the legislative framework.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Activity-Promoting Video Games and Increased Energy Expenditure
The Journal of Pediatrics Volume 154, Issue 6, June 2009, Pages 819-823
The authors conclude that activity-promoting video games have the potential to increase movement and energy expenditure in children and adults.

BC Healthy Living Alliance: Physical Activity Strategy
BCHLA has four initiatives to take British Columbians from the TV to the trails. Knowing that small steps lead to big results, and that their actions can influence their children and aging parents, adults are the primary target.

The Community Guide: Promoting Physical Activity
Information on campaigns and informational approaches to increase physical activity, including community-wide campaigns; mass media campaigns; classroom-based health education focused on providing information; and much more.

Interventions on Diet and Physical Activity: What Works
Implementation of the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health
Interventions on diet and physical activity: what works" (What Works) provides policy-makers and other stakeholders with a summary of tried and tested diet and physical activity interventions that aim to reduce the risk of chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCD).

August 15, 2009

By Rosanne Prinson, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 30, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc


Rosanne will be taking some time off to photosynthesize in the sun :) Info Round Up will return August 14th.

Alberta Centre of Active Living

ABORIGINAL
Effective chronic disease prevention interventions for Aboriginal populations

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Active Commuting and Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Archives of Internal Medicine 2009;169(13):1216-1223
In what may be the first large U.S. study of health and commuting, the researchers found only about 17 per cent of workers walked or bicycled any portion of their commute. Those active commuters did better on treadmill tests of fitness, even when researchers accounted for their leisure-time physical activity levels, suggesting commuter choices do make a difference.

Association for Commuter Transportation in Canada
Link to their first newsletter. “We aim to provide timely and meaningful news to TDM practitioners and other transportation-related professionals across the country working to promote suite sustainable modes of transportation - by transit, in carpools, by bike, on foot, or through telework.”

International Scan Summary Report on Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility
In May 2009, a team of 12 transportation professionals with expertise in bicycling and walking from the United States (U.S.) visited five countries in Europe to identify and assess effective approaches to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility. The scan team identified numerous possible approaches to improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility in the U.S.

Michigan Smart Commute
A new Michigan web resource has arrived on the scene, complete with tools, information and inspiration to help community leaders encourage residents to 'Smart Commute' (walk, bike, carpool, or use public transit).

Victoria Walks
This Australian website has an extensive array of resources and tools to assist people to work together to make their neighbourhoods better for walking.

CHILDREN
Child Friendly Communities: Position Statement
From the Planning Institute of Australia. Planners have the ability to help create child friendly cities and communities that can contribute positively to the development of a child's, happiness and wellbeing. With the increasing focus on Australia’s ageing population, it is important that policy makers and planners do not neglect the interests of children when managing the structure and form of Australian cities. The physical, social and economic dimensions of urban environments impacts on a child’s life by shaping their ability to form social relationships and by influencing their physical, mental and emotional health.

The Influence of the VERB Campaign on Children's Physical Activity in 2002 to 2006
American Journal of Public Health, published online 16 July 09
The authors conclude that health messages can be successfully marketed to children by applying the same savvy marketing strategies that are used to sell products to children. As in product marketing, when children are reached by an engaging message, their interest is piqued and their attitudes and behaviors can be affected if the choice for action is appealing and easy. Whereas the advertising made physical activity an appealing choice, by promoting physical activity and giving children ideas on how to ‘‘sample the product’’ in their backyards and playgrounds, the intention was for the choice to seem easy and more accessible.

PlaySport
Ophea's PlaySport is an English/French website with all kinds of great activities designed to teach kids games by playing games! PlaySport games encourage fun, free play while helping kids develop the skills needed to not only participate in all kinds of sports, but also to be healthy and active citizens throughout their lives.

Renewed elementary H&PE curriculum for Ontario
A renewed elementary H&PE curriculum for Ontario will be released this Fall. Mandatory implementation of this policy will be required by elementary schools by Fall 2010. A renewed curriculum for secondary schools will also be released in 2010 with mandatory implementation in 2011. The vision of the renewed curriculum is that students will be physically and health literate and have the comprehension, commitment and capacity to lead and promote a healthy active life in an ever-changing global society.

Study Suggests Parents Lack Confidence Necessary to Implement Healthy Behavior Changes for Children
A study published in the journal Pediatrics suggests that parents often lack confidence in implementing and enforcing the behavior changes necessary to reduce their child's risk of obesity.

CHRONIC DISEASE
Public Health Agency of Canada – Chronic Disease Infobase - Profiles
If you get a runtime error message click refresh. Once the main page comes up choose Alberta from the left hand nav column…. Lots of stats there including Leisure Time PA

PHAC Chronic Disease Infobase (homepage)
Chronic Disease Infobase profiles the epidemiology of major non-communicable diseases in Canada, including the most current cancers; and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; by province/territory and by regional health unit. Every page that is generated retrieves data from the database on the fly, which means that every time you come back to Chronic Disease Infobase, you may get new information; since the database is updated as data become available.

PHAC Chronic Disease facts and figures
Links to many different data sources on many different chronic diseases here.

Power to Prevent: A Family Lifestyle Approach to Diabetes Prevention
Physical Activity is mentioned 236 times in this 253 page document.
It is a diabetes prevention program aimed at African Americans at increased risk for diabetes, This curriculum provides resources and activities that can help people enjoy a way of life that includes healthy eating and increased physical activity. It is designed to give people who want to adopt healthier habits a range of useful information to support their personal decisions to change their lifestyles. The program provides information on diabetes prevention; ideas for tasty and healthy eating; tools for making changes one step at a time; and suggestions for physical activities that are within reach, easy to do, relaxing, and fun.

COMMUNITY
Creating Caring Communities: A guide to establishing intergenerational programs for schools, care facilities and community groups.
This resource contains practical information and resources to support educators, care providers and community agencies in coordinating successful intergenerational (IG) programs that promote learning, understanding, and mutual respect between generations.

HEALTH (GENERAL)
CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity
The CDC's DNPAO takes a public health approach to address the role of nutrition and physical activity in improving the public's health and preventing and controlling chronic diseases.

CDC Public Health Image Library
A free collection of photos, illustrations, and other media. I searched using "walking" and "exercise".... Got some strange false positives but also some useable photos. Might be worth book marking :)

Core Competencies for Health Promotion Practitioners
This is a set of health promotion core competencies for health promotion practitioners, organisations, employers, and educators. It identifies competencies for health promotion at beginner practitioner level.

Health promotion spending in US budget
Sweeping healthcare legislation working its way through Congress is more than an effort to provide insurance to millions of Americans without coverage. Tucked within is a provision that could provide billions of dollars for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and even farmers' markets. The add-ons -- characterized as part of a broad effort to improve the nation's health 'infrastructure' -- appear in House and Senate versions of the bill.

Obesity, Physical Activity and Weight Control Glossary
From the National Institutes of Health this glossary defines words that are often used when people talk or write about obesity, physical activity, and weight control. It is written for people who are overweight or obese, or interested in learning more about obesity, physical activity, nutrition, and weight control.

MENTAL HEALTH
Specific associations between types of physical activity and components of mental health
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Volume 12, Issue 4, July 2009, Pages 468-474
These findings further our knowledge of the mental health benefits of physical activity, demonstrating the greater positive effects from sporting activity. They also suggest the potential worth of specific health recommendations for physical health and for mental health separately in different population subgroups.

OLDER ADULTS
Wheeling Walks
Wheeling Walks is a theory- and media-based community campaign that uses paid advertising to encourage walking among sedentary older adults.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
F as in Fat 2009 How Obesity Policies are Failing in America
Adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, a report released by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). In addition, the percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.

Prediction of Leisure-time Physical Activity Among Obese Individuals
Obesity (2009) 17 4, 706–712. doi:10.1038/oby.2008.599
Participation in leisure-time physical activity is explained primarily by a person's intentions to perform this behavior. The results also suggest that people are more able to translate their perception of control into action if they perceive the built environment as favorable, although this additional gain in prediction is small relative to intention.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Are Obesity and Physical Activity Clustered? A Spatial Analysis Linked to Residential Density
Obesity (2009) Published online 23 April 2009.
The aim of this study was to examine spatial clustering of obesity and/or moderate physical activity and their relationship to a neighborhood's built environment. Overall, the study indicates that the relationship between the urban environment and obesity is not direct.

Effectiveness of the 2006 Commonwealth Games 10,000 Steps Walking Challenge
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2009, 41: 1673–1680
These results demonstrate initial effectiveness of the challenge linked to an international sporting event. Long term sustainability only applied for a small number of participants.

iStep Log Study
The 10,000 Steps team would like to invite all iPhone and iPod Touch users to participate in an exciting study looking at the usefulness and usability of the iStepLog app developed specifically for 10,000 Steps members.

National Physical Activity Guidelines for Ireland
These guidelines provide clear, concise and user friendly guidance to support the public, professionals and policy makers to Get Ireland Active. They present a unique opportunity to create a shared vision and framework to support everyone to be as active as they can and enjoy the innumerable benefits.

Total mortality after changes in leisure time physical activity in 50 year old men: 35 year follow-up of population based cohort
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2009; 43: 482.
These findings, from a well-designed, high quality study, highlight the fact that it is never too late to start being physically active as those who increase activity levels in middle age and older have a similar reduced rate of mortality to those who were active as younger adults and maintained their activity, at least in men. This message should be communicated to populations as a motivator for initiating and maintaining physical activity.

URBAN DESIGN
Assessing urban and rural neighborhood characteristics using audit and GIS data: derivation and reliability of constructs
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2009, 6:44
Measures to assess neighborhood environments are needed to better understand the salient features that may enhance outdoor physical activities, such as walking and bicycling for transport or leisure. The purpose of this study was to derive constructs to describe neighborhoods using both primary (neighborhood audit) and secondary (geographic information systems) data.

The Built Environment and Walking: Position Statement
From the Australian Heart Foundation. The built environment can either facilitate or discourage walking: land use systems, transportation systems and urban design coalesce to create a pedestrian environment that impacts upon people’s decisions to walk. There are two key conduits for increasing walking: encouraging more walking for transport, and/or encouraging more walking for recreation.

Civilised Streets
A briefing presenting a future that is about removing the dominance of the car – creating civilised streets that work for all.

This way to better residential streets
For the past 50 years we have thought only of the car, in effect providing parking spaces and access routes for drivers between home and the outside world. Things have to change – we must not let the car dominate when a well designed street can help create sustainable communities, enable people to get around, promote walking and cycling, civic pride and identity, provide safe play for children and allow the community to interact.

WOMEN
Australian Womensport and Recreation Association
The Australian Womensport and Recreation Association Inc (AWRA) is an enthusiastic and dynamic national volunteer association "to provide leadership and advocacy for Australian women and girls in sport and active recreation". AWRA is linked with the International Association for Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women.

Count Us In: Developing Physical Activity Programs for Women
This guideline has been developed on findings from a three year research project titled 'Count Us In: Developing Physical Activity Programs for Women' conducted by Victoria University, Australia. The guidelines are targeted for program providers in private, community and leisure organisations, located in metropolitan and regional areas.

WORKPLACE
Do walking strategies to increase physical activity reduce reported sitting in workplaces: a randomized control trial
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2009, 6:43
Interventions designed to increase workplace physical activity may not automatically reduce high volumes of sitting, a behaviour independently linked to chronic diseases such as obesity and type II diabetes. This study compared the impact two different walking strategies had on step counts and reported sitting times.

July 10, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
Air Pollution and Activity During Transportation by Car, Subway, and Walking
American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume 37, Issue 1, Pages 72-77 (July 2009)
Driving cars was associated with less physical activity but not necessarily less exposure to PM2.5 than riding subways or walking in an urban environment. These effect sizes and variances can be used to design larger experiments assessing the health effects of urban transportation

Economic Value of Walkability
This paper describes ways to evaluate the value of walking (the activity) and walkability (the quality of walking conditions, including safety, comfort and convenience). Walking and walkability provide a variety of benefits, including basic mobility, consumer cost savings, cost savings (reduced external costs), efficient land use, community livability, improved fitness and public health, economic development, and support for equity objectives. Current transportation planning practices tend to undervalue walking. More comprehensive analysis techniques, described in this paper, are likely to increase public support for walking and other nonmotorized modes of travel.

The Effect of On-Street Parking on Cyclist Route Choice and the Operational Behaviour of Cyclists and Motorists (US)
The models indicate that on-street parking has a significant impact on motorist and cyclist position; a bike lane combined with a buffer space is the only way to completely remove cyclists from the door zone, and operationally, a bicycle lane is more effective than a wide outside lane. They also note that the empirical models indicate that travel time is the most important attribute for commuters in choosing their routes. These factors also impact bicyclists’ route choice: traffic volume; speed limit; on-street parking characteristics; bicycle route continuity; number of stop signs, red lights, and cross streets; and roadway terrain.

Footfalls: Obstacle Course To Livable Cities
This study provides Detailed analysis of walking conditions in Indian cities. This analysis indicates that walkability is overlooked and undervalued in transport planning, and that improved walkability is justified for equity and efficiency sake. It provides specific recommendations for improving walking conditions to address a variety of planning objectives.

Google Transit
Plan a trip anywhere in the world using transit. This is great!! And the street maps of the cities they provide are good too.

Valuing the Health Benefits of Active Transport Modes
This report seeks to provide a per-kilometre value for the health benefits of active transport modes (such as walking and cycling) that is compatible with the Land Transport New Zealand Economic Evaluation Manual. The first two sections of the report begin by explaining the scope of the project and the background. Section 3 investigates the evidence of the connection between physical activity and health outcomes. Section 4 clarifies the role of active transport modes as physical activity, and reports the New Zealand-specific data about active transport mode engagement. Section 5 gives a brief comparative summary of the literature review of cost-benefit analyses and valuation techniques used overseas to value the health benefits of active modes.

walkON
walkON is a community partnership of Heart Health projects from Central West Ontario. We offer a menu of program activities to engage the community in the creation of environments that support walking.

CHILDREN
An Injury Prevention Perspective on the Childhood Obesity Epidemic
Prev Chronic Dis 2009;6(3).
The purpose of this paper is to initiate discourse on the value of including injury prevention and control as part of public health strategies to increase physical activity among youth. This article describes the connection between injury prevention and physical activity, proposes the benefits of using an injury prevention framework when developing physical activity interventions, and recommends that an injury prevention perspective on the childhood obesity epidemic be used to guide future research.

HEALTH (GENERAL)
Data base of Multicultural Health Publications
Compiled by the Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
Patterns of Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Adults
Prev Chronic Dis 2009;6(3).The authors found differences in physical activity patterns by demographic characteristics, day, and time of day. Weekend mornings may be an opportune time to promote additional physical activity.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Healthy Lifestyles for people with learning disabilities: Physical Activity & Diet
A discussion of current research including an annotated bibliography.

New WHO Physical Activity web-site


URBAN DESIGN
Active Living Case Studies
In response to the increasing evidence linking urban planning to low levels of community participation in physical activity, the New South Wales Premier's Council for Active Living (PCAL) has developed a web-based resource Designing Places for Active Living.


The Built Environment and Health: A Review
In general, a planning and development scheme that concentrates growth and creates mixeduse, pedestrian friendly neighbourhoods has been found to be associated with improved health outcomes for many of these impact areas, particularly for physical activity, obesity and associated conditions.

iCANwalk
iCANwalk is a collaboration of partners who support the development of walkable communities. We believe that together, we can build sustainable, walkable communities that will improve the health of our citizens, our children and our environment.

National Geographic Virtual World – The New Suburb?
Interactive site plus resources.

WOMEN
Unequal Opportunities, Unequal Outcomes
In 2008, CAAWS conducted a series of cross-Canada focus groups with low socioeconomic status (LSES) mothers and community physical activity promoters to identify barriers that prevent and/or limit participation of LSES mothers in physical activity within their communities. The findings are contained in a comprehensive report that also includes solutions to improve accessibility, availability and affordability of physical activity and sport programs for LSES mothers.

June 12, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
A Citizen's Guide to Better Streets
This Citizen’s Guide is intended to show people who are passionate about creating better streets and walkable communities how they can influence highway professionals to address transportation in ways that place the most value on people and on places.

Accessible Pedestrian Signals – A Guide to Best Practices
In the past ten years, changes in intersection design and signalization (see Chapter 3) have affected the traditional street crossing techniques used by blind pedestrians, making the pedestrian phase harder to recognize without seeing the visual pedestrian signal….

Bicyclist- and Pedestrian-Only Roundabouts
Learn more about a new type of roundabout increasing in popularity that is solely dedicated to bicycles and/or pedestrians on shared-use paths. It includes case studies on how this type of roundabout can improve mobility and reduce injury and fatality rates.

Bike It!
Bike It is a nationwide (Scotland) scheme which aims to increase the number of young people cycling to school and on other journeys.

Ped and Bike Safety International Scan
From May 8, 2009 through May 24, 2009, a group of transportation professionals from the U.S. will be traveling to 5 European countries (Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, U.K.) to identify best practices around pedestrian and bicycle safety. This blog will serve as a text and photo journal of the trip.

Physical Activity and Transportation Benefits of Walkable Approaches to Community Design
A new study from the BC Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA) calls for municipal governments to make walking and cycling the top priority in their transportation plans, rather than cars. Focusing on Metro Vancouver, the study found that adults are 2.5 times more likely to walk when they live in well-connected neighborhoods with features that are pedestrian-friendly. It also found that adults who live in walkable neighborhoods drive 58% less on average than those who don’t.

Safe Routes to School – Scotland
Great information here.

StreetsWiki
StreetsWiki is a community-created, online encyclopedia for transportation, urban environmental, and public space ­issues. It's a place for ordinary people, planners, and academics to write and read about our cities and how we can make them more livable.

Sustrans
Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. Our vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. Every day we are working on practical, innovative ways of dealing with the transport challenges that affect us all.


CHILDREN
Scotland Hands-Up Survey 2008
Sustrans recently carried out the first ever ‘National Hands Up Survey' in Scotland of how pupils travel to and from school. The survey is unique in the scale and geographic spread with approximately 400,000 pupils (about two thirds of all school children in Scotland) participating across 29 of the 32 local authority areas in Scotland.

DISABILITY
Determining Daily Physical Activity Levels of Youth With Developmental Disabilities: Days of Monitoring Required?
Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly 26(3), July 2009
This study examined sources of variability in physical activity (PA) of youth with developmental disabilities (DD), and determined the optimal number of days required for monitoring PA.

Friendship in Inclusive Physical Education
Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly 26(3), July 2009
Social interaction and development of friendships between children with and without a disability are often proposed as potential outcomes of inclusive education. Physical activity specialists assert that exercise and sport environments may be conducive to social and friendship outcomes.

OLDER ADULTS
Exploring the Commonalities Between Adaptive Resources and Self-Enhancement in Older Adults' Comparative Judgments of Physical Activity
Journal of Aging and Health, Vol. 20, No. 8, 899-919 (2008)
This study examines the extent to which optimism, control beliefs and motivation, and downward social comparison contribute independently to the maintenance of older adults' positive self-evaluations in a functional domain.

Impact of a Community-Based Falls Prevention Program on Maintenance of Physical Activity Among Older Adults
Journal of Aging and Health, Vol. 21, No. 3, 480-500 (2009)
This study examines the 9-month impact of a 12-week falls prevention program (called Stand Up!) which included balance exercises and educational components on maintenance of physical activity among community-dwelling seniors.

Neighborhood Social Cohesion and Disorder in Relation to Walking in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Journal of Aging and Health, Vol. 21, No. 1, 155-171 (2009)
Neighborhood conditions may shape walking behavior in older adults, especially conditions that reflect physical neglect or social threat. Promotion of walking behavior in older adults may require improvement of the safety and upkeep of the neighborhood environment.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY
Weighing it up: Obesity in Australia
This inquiry into obesity in the Australian population, focusing on future implications for Australia’s health system, has revealed that there are high personal and economic costs associated with this increasing prevalence. The Committee has heard there is a vast array of direct and indirect costs to - not just the health system - but individuals, families, communities, and employers.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Adherence to Healthy Lifestyle Habits in US Adults, 1988-2006
The American Journal of Medicine Volume 122, Issue 6, Pages 528-534 (June 2009)
Generally, adherence to a healthy lifestyle pattern has decreased during the last 18 years, with decreases documented in 3 of 5 healthy lifestyle habits. These findings have broad implications for the future risk of cardiovascular disease in adults.

PBIC Launches Updated Image Gallery
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center announces the launch of the updated and redesigned pedestrian and bicycle image library. A searchable collection of free, high-quality images relating to walking and bicycling. Visitors to the site may use the images in any non-commercial projects including web pages, presentations and reports. There are no per-image costs, royalties, or extra payments for the images, but users must adhere to the Usage Guidelines posted on the site

URBAN DESIGN
Open space strategies Best practice guidance
This document offers clear, practical guidance to local authorities and their stakeholders on how to prepare an open space strategy. For local authorities that have already completed an open space strategy, it also gives guidance on delivering, monitoring and reviewing a strategy. There are also examples of strategies in action from around England, reflecting different themes.

Smart Growth Policies: An Evaluation of Programs and Outcomes
Although the evaluation of smart growth programs concentrates primarily on statewide performance from 1990 to the early 2000s, the findings and recommendations will be useful for formulating growth management policies in today’s context of high energy costs, historic housing market volatility, and increasing pressures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many smart growth objectives are precisely the outcomes posited to address these current challenges facing state and local policy makers.

May 8, 2009

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc

Alberta Centre for Active Living

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

I Walk in My Street: A Guide to Planning Successful Pedestrian Streets in New York City
The pedestrian streets that began to crop up around New York in the summer of 2008 have been a long-time coming, and their arrival was widely celebrated. But care must be taken if their continuation and expansion is to be ensured; if their reintroduction is poorly managed, they could easily meet the same fate as the pedestrianizations of the 1970’s.

Making the Case for Active Transportation
Eight information bulletins have been developed by CFLRI for professionals and community members who want to build a case for active transportation in their community. Each bulletin includes evidence that supports the investment of time and resources for active transportation opportunities at the local level. They focus on designing communities for moving people and not cars. Recommended actions to increase and strengthen collaborative partnerships for active transportation are also included.

New Urban News
A professional newsletter for planners, developers, architects, builders, public officials and others who are interested in the creation of human-scale communities. If you click on “past articles” in the left hand column you will find some interesting articles.

Pedestrian Forum - Spring 2009
The latest edition of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Pedestrian Forum Newsletter is now available. The newsletter highlights efforts by the FHWA and its partners to improve the safety of walking and bicycling as a mode of transportation.

Valuing the health benefits of active transport modes
Land Transport New Zealand has released a report that explores the per-kilometer value for the health benefits of active transport modes, such as walking and cycling.

CHILDREN

A healthy active childhood: giving children the best chance of a cancer-free future
This report published for World Cancer Day 2009: Explains the link between cancer and excess body weight, poor diet and physical inactivity, Calls on parents, teachers, and decision - makers to take action now to encourage healthy habits among children……

Design for Play - A guide to creating successful play spaces
The guide shows how to design good play spaces, which can be affordably maintained, which give children and young people the freedom to play creatively, and yet still allow them to experience risk, challenge and excitement.

Encouraging kids to live an active childhood
A factsheet.
Free play: Improving children's physical health
This briefing for the play sector highlights the official recommendations (England) on obesity that relate to free play, leisure opportunities and access to open space

Play and health: Making the links
This briefing for health improvement specialists, primary care teams and healthy schools coordinators, provides information on why play is crucial to children's health and explores possibilities for joint working between the health and play sectors.

Play for a change - Play, Policy and Practice: A review of contemporary perspectives
Play England has published a comprehensive review of the evidence underpinning current thinking on play. It provides a detailed analysis of research and literature published since 2001 that underpins contemporary understandings of the importance of play and how this relates to social policy and practice.

Using Child-friendly Maps to Promote Active Transportation
A feature article on the Ontario Health Promotion E-Bulletin.

CONFERENCES

2009 Weight of the Nation Conference
The CDC’s inaugural conference on obesity prevention and control will be held in Washington, DC July 27th – 29th. The event 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.

HEALTH GENERAL

Cancer-related beliefs and behaviors in eight geographic regions
This report provides the first internationally comparable data of people's beliefs about screening, diagnosis and behaviors that increase cancer risk, such as smoking, drinking and being overweight.

MENTAL HEALTH
Up and Running? Exercise therapy and the treatment of mild or moderate depression in primary care
The Mental Health Foundation calls for patients with depression to be offered exercise on prescription. Substantial evidence shows that exercise therapy can be an effective treatment for depression. Includes a report, booklets and FAQ’s.

OLDER ADULTS

Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community
Exercise interventions reduce risk and rate of falls. Research is needed to confirm the contexts in which multifactorial assessment and intervention, home safety interventions, vitamin D supplementation, and other interventions are effective.

OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY

2009 Annual Evidence Update - Obesity - Childhood obesity: surveillance and prevention (England).
The current update demonstrates of the growth of evidence within this field, with reviews now covering broader issues around the environment, policy and practice. Although the systematic reviews vary in their quality assurance and inclusion criteria, collectively the available evidence base remains weak, due to the inconsistencies and heterogeneity of available studies. To a certain extent this is indicative of the complexity of the obesity however, the evidence from these systematic reviews will continue to build a foundation for future research and help to inform practice and policy.

Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: One Year On
This report reviews progress on the delivery of Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for England (published January 2008) and sets out priorities for the future. One Year On builds on the five themes from Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives, but demonstrates how we have developed our thinking over the last year to keep up momentum in tackling unhealthy weight. (Physical activity in mentioned throughout).

Primary care physicians' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices regarding childhood obesity: a systematic review.
Obesity Reviews 2009 Mar; 10(2):227-36
From this review, it is obvious that there is a need for education of primary care physicians to increase the uniformity of the assessment and to improve physicians' self-efficacy in managing childhood obesity.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The 2007 Physical Activity and Sport Monitor
The CFLRI bulletins are now released in their entirety. There are eleven different bulletins including topics such as social norms, barriers, attitudes, beliefs, intentions etc.

Active Halton
Formally the Halton Active Living Network, is now Active Halton. The network is a group of individuals and organizations who have an interest in promoting the adoption of active lifestyles for all ages in the Halton community. Active Halton has an ambitious plan to increase the physical activity levels of Halton residents by 20% by 2012.

Modeling the lifetime costs and health effects of lifestyle intervention in the prevention and treatment of obesity in Switzerland
This study compared a lifestyle program for overweight or obese patients with the standard care. Patients on the lifestyle program attended dietitian sessions and supervised exercise sessions for the first three years. The lifestyle intervention consisted of regular physical activity and healthy eating, including a diet rich in fruit and vegetables.