The home and neighborhood environments may be important in obesity prevention by virtue of food availability, food preparation, cues and opportunities for physical activity, and family support. In-depth interviews were conducted with 60 African American and White adults over 50 years of age in two rural counties in Southwest Georgia. Neighborhood features that supported physical activity were plenty of land, minimal traffic and living in a safe and friendly neighborhood. The major barrier was lack of recreational facilities. The study suggests that successful environmental change strategies to promote physical activity and healthy eating in rural neighborhoods may differ from those used in urban neighborhoods.
Archive for category Physical Activity
Are people with the most behavioral goals to achieve more likely to meet more goals than those given fewer goals. 810 participants were randomly assigned to advice-only guidelines for blood pressure control (reduced sodium, increased physical activity), or guidelines plus the DASH diet (increased fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, reduced fat). At 6 months, 12% of Advice-Only, and 44% of those plus DASH met at least 3 goals. Conclusions: Those with the most goals to achieve reached the most goals.
22 parents and 17 carers participated in 9 focus groups. Participants were from lower socioeconomic status, and Middle-Eastern and Chinese communities in the Sydney (Australia) metropolitan region. Learn what they think and do about physical activity and screen time.
Planning for Healthy Places
Dec 13
Planning for Healthy Places is a program in the Public Health Law & Policy unit at the Public Health Institute. The Public Health Institute is an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California. This is their website on community planning solutions to increase access to healthy foods and physical activity through improvements to the built environment.
A good warm-up program may dramatically reduce sports injuries, a new report from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences found. Focusing on strength improvement, balance, core stability and muscular awareness cut injuries by a third among almost 1,900 teenage female football players; severe injuries fell by almost half.
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1
Dec 11
The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children has introduces a new program called 5-4-3-2-1 where 24 high school students teach nutrition classes to elementary age children. The classes are being held at various after-school programs and day care centers. The students are teaching students the 5-4-3-2-1 principle, which advocates five servings of fruits and vegetables, four glasses of water, three servings of low-fat dairy products, two hours or less of screen time and one hour or more of exercise daily.
Michael Pollan on pbs
Dec 11
Professor of Journalism Michael Pollan suggested to Obama how he should reform agriculture and the US food system. On this highly interesting TV-show he explains why and how. Please enjoy. And thanks to Marion Nestlé for pointing it out.
These two books were published in 2006 by WHO Europe.
Physical activity and health in Europe: evidence for actionThis book is written for European policy-makers and leaders from different sectors that can promote physical activity, including health, sports and recreation, transport, employment, urban planning, education and the mass media. It sets out the facts about health-enhancing physical activity, provides examples of action already being taken, highlights the contributions that can be made by health and other sectors and makes the case for concerted action across the WHO European Region.
You can order the printed version here. The book is also avaiable in Danish click here.
Promoting physical activity and active living in urban environments. The role of local governments. The solid factsThis publication presents the best available evidence on physical activity in the urban environment and makes suggestions for policy and practice based on that evidence. Mayors and other elected city officials can use this information to address the needs and contributions of all citizens in different settings of everyday life with the aims of ensuring equitable and comprehensive efforts to promote physical activity and active living.
You can order the printed edition here. The book is also avaiable in Danish click here.
Severely obese patients who have lost significant amounts of weight by changing their diet and exercise habits may be as successful in keeping the weight off long-term as those individuals who lost weight after weight loss surgery.
Researchers from Boston University have found that reducing time spent watching television and increasing time spent walking briskly or engaged in vigorous physical activity may reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in African-American women.