American College of Sports Medicine Survey Predicts Next Year’s Fitness Trends.
Archive for category Physical Activity
The Institute of Medicine will develop a framework for evidence-informed decision-making in obesity prevention efforts. It will focus on policy- and community-level interventions designed to influence food, eating, and physical activity environments.
Many adults may be meeting experts’ 30 minute recommendation on exercise if all types of activity, from work and play, are counted, a study of Swedish adults hints. Researchers found that among 1,470 adults ages 18 to 74, nearly two-thirds were meeting the goal of moderate physical activity on most days of the week. Getting more people off the couch, they say, will take broad “social-ecological approaches” which essentially means making it easier for people to be active in their daily lives. That could include making it simpler for people to walk or bike – by building more sidewalks, for instance – or giving them more parks and recreational areas.
4231 adults from seven European countries answered questions from a group of Fench researchers. Adults with high personal motivation were more likely to be active than those without motivation. Participants perceiving high social support from work or school were more likely to be active. So were those with perceived opportunities for PA. BMI had no effect.
This review provides an overview of some key biological mechanisms that may provide important metabolic links between nutrition, physical activity and cancer.
Plenty of vigorous exercise can cut a healthy, older woman’s breast cancer risk by 30 percent, researchers said on Friday. A study of more than 30,000 post-menopausal women showed that strenuous activity — ranging from housework such as scrubbing floors to running — protected against breast cancer even among those who do not have a higher risk, the researchers said.
Measures of residential density, street connectivity, land use mix, and sociodemographic characteristics of individuals were analyzed to predict walking, overweight and obesity status. Walking was consistently higher for all groups in the more walkable neighborhoods.
357 mothers from Melbourne provided information on their local physical and social neighbourhood environments, and reported weekly time spent walking for leisure and for transport. Public transport accessibility and trusting many people in the neighbourhood were predictive of increases in walking for leisure, while connectivity, pedestrian crossings, a local traffic speed were predictive of increases in transport-related walking. Satisfaction with local facilities was associated with increasing both types of walking, and the social environment was important for maintaining high levels of both leisure- and transport-related walking.
In the first study to look at the effect of neighborhood greenness on inner city children’s weight over time, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and University of Washington report that higher neighborhood greenness is associated with slower increases in children’s body mass over a two year period, regardless of residential density. This study of over 3,800 inner city children revealed that living in areas with green space has a long term positive impact on children’s weight and thus health. The study appears in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
153 overweight/obese adults with metabolic syndrome got written copies of Australian national dietary and PA guidelines were provided to all participants. Half of them also took part in a 16-week lifestyle program which provided 1) dietary and PA information based on national guidelines, 2) behavioural self-management tools, 3) food-label reading, supermarkets tour and cooking, 4) exercise sessions, and 5) peer-group support. This group-based lifestyle program achieved improvements in body composition and cardio-metabolic and physical fitness similar to individualised interventions which are more resource intensive to deliver. It confirmed that active training in lifestyle modification is more effective than passive provision of guidelines. Such programs should include social support and self-management techniques.