Alberta Centre for Active Living
Note: Where possible, we provide the DOI link
to research papers in the Info Round-Up.
To use it, cut and paste the DOI into the text box on this webpage: http://dx.doi.org/. Access to research articles will be dependent
on your institutional rights.
ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
An Act of the
National Assembly for Wales to make provision for the mapping of active
travel routes and related facilities and
for and in connection with integrated network maps; for securing that there are new and improved active travel
routes and related facilities; for requiring the Welsh
Ministers and local authorities to take reasonable steps to enhance the
provision made for, and to have regard
to the needs of, walkers and cyclists; for requiring functions under the Act to
be exercised so as to promote active
travel journeys and secure new and improved active travel routes and related facilities; and for connected
purposes.
This link takes
you to the main page where you can find the Executive Summary, Full Report and
Appendix. Researchers at USC looked at
households near stations on Los Angeles' new Expo light-rail line, comparing
the same households before and after construction to control households outside
the corridor….. Physical activity also rose in the households near transit,
presumably due to the ability to access more amenities on foot rather than by
car
Explains how to
use one set of tools – zoning and subdivision codes — to make your community
more walkable and bikeable. It was designed to assist public health department
professionals and advocates in their efforts to revise their local codes, but
it may also be useful to other stakeholders routinely involved with updating
and revising zoning and subdivision codes, including elected officials,
planners, and local advocates.
This (US) Bill will allow communities to
take advantage of low-cost financing for projects that make streets and
sidewalks safer for all users through a new federal credit assistance program
that would direct millions specifically for low-income communities.
With two new
light rail lines set to open in Houston later this year, health and
transportation researchers are teaming up for a long-term study on the benefits
of walking to transit stops. They want to know if a couple of brisk walks a day
can lead to major changes in well-being.
The Open
Streets Initiatives: Measuring Success toolkit provides cities, bicycle/pedestrian
agencies, academics, and others interested in measuring the success of Open
Streets initiatives a framework for capturing physical activity, participant
counts, business buy-in, and other relevant measures.
On February 6,
Senators Mark Begich (D-AK) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the Safe Streets
Act of 2014 (S. 2004) in the U.S. Senate. The measure would require all new
federally-funded transportation projects use a Complete Streets approach to
planning, designing and building roads to accommodate the safety and
convenience of all users.
The term
"sneckdown"—a mashup of "snow" and
"neckdown"—started as a wonky Twitter hashtag but has sparked a broad
discussion on how street space might be better used. Referring to the temporary
narrowing of a street that occurs after a heavy snowfall, a sneckdown is
nature's way of revealing opportunities for expanding the pedestrian zone.
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
You have the option to download the full
report, including the list of top 15 Complete Streets policies from 2013 as
well as a full explanation of our policy evaluation, or download the list of
top 15 Complete Streets policies from 2013 as well as an overview of the policy
evaluation.
Mount Royal University offers Canada’s
first national accessible housing design program. Designed for professionals in
the housing and construction industry, as well as health care specialists and
“those with an interest in accessible housing. The program focuses on universal design, aging-in-place, and
more.
Journal of Physical Activity and Health,
2014, 11, 91-98
While the study does not establish
causality, the results provide some support for the notion that policy makers
interested in increasing physical activity levels should consider changing not
only the physical environment, but also perceived neighborhood characteristics
and travel attitudes.
Health & Place Vol 26, March 2014,
Pages 118–126
After controlling for observed
confounding influences, both original and new compactness measures are
negatively related to BMI, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and
diabetes. Indices are not significantly related to physical activity, perhaps
because physical activity is not defined broadly to include active travel to
work, shopping, and other destinations.
Researchers with the Minnesota
Department of Transportation have published a study of safety impacts of
implementing Complete Streets in the state and found that safety was generally
improved among the 11 studied sites. The findings are based on both qualitative
and quantitative data……
New report from the Building Healthy
Places Initiative, released at ULI’s 2013 Fall Meeting in Chicago, delivers a
new approach to building healthy communities….. It distills lessons learned
from the three Advisory Services panels ULI conducted in the spring of 2013 as
well as insights from a workshop attended by experts from a variety of fields
CHILDREN
Journal of Physical Activity and Health,
2014, 11, 206-227
These findings suggest that AST should
be promoted to increase PA levels in children and adolescents and that cycling
to/ from school is associated with increased cardiovascular fitness.
Intervention studies are needed to increase the quality of evidence.
CS4L is pleased to announce the release
of an update on the original 2005 Development Resource Paper.
This BHFNC evidence briefing focuses on
children and young people aged 5-18. It looks at the available research
evidence for the benefits of physical activity for this age group. (It) paints a picture of how active children
and young people across the UK currently are. It looks at factors affecting
participation and the effectiveness of interventions that are designed to
increase physical activity. This briefing is designed for professionals who
require a detailed review of the evidence base available.
Am J of Preventive Medicine Vol 46, Iss
3, March 2014, Pages 289–292
The relationship between urbanicity and
MVPA in youth appears to be more complex than previously envisioned. Rural
residence appears to be supportive of MVPA in girls but not boys. Future
research should consider urbanicity when investigating correlates/determinants
of MVPA in youth.
Health & Place Vol 26, March 2014,
Pages 60–68
Highlights:
·
Declines in children's
independent mobility (IM) are often attributed to parents fear.
·
We examined the association
between parents' fear of strangers and children’s IM.
·
Parents fear appeared to
inhibit IM, and the effect was most pronounced among girls.
·
The inclusion of informal
social control did little to alleviate this association.
·
Initiatives that target
parents’ fears and normalize walking may best promote IM.
This South Providence Elementary school
had a chronic absenteeism problem. Then they started a walking school bus…….
CHRONIC DISEASE
A new tool from the Center for Disease
Control helps communities understand and communicate the cost of chronic health
conditions in terms of both direct medical expenditures and lost productivity
from absenteeism and missed work.
Preventive Medicine Volume 60, March
2014, Pages 33–40
Highlights:
·
We examined the effectiveness
of a web-based program to increase physical activity.
·
Web-based delivery can provide
targeted material to an extended audience.
·
Web-based programs can report
high levels of participant engagement.
·
The intervention increased
short-term physical activity in adults with Type 2 diabetes.
·
Further investigation is
required to support long-term changes in physical activity.
CONFERENCES
Exercise as treatment for chronic
disease conference will take place on the 1st May 2014 on the Gold Coast,
hosted by The Centre for Research in Evidence Based Practice and The
Collaborative Research network: Advancing Exercise and Sports Science
May 27 - May 28, 2014 Toronto, ON
This conference is co-hosted by the
Ontario Injury Prevention Resource Centre located at Parachute and the BC
Injury Research and Prevention Unit. It is a follow-up to the highly successful,
“sold out” First National Fall Prevention conference held in Vancouver, British
Columbia in 2010. This high-calibre event will bring together experts from
across Canada and around the world to share research excellence, clinical
advances and policy innovations in fall and injury prevention among older
adults. It is an exceptional opportunity for those who work with older adults
in all settings: researchers, practitioners and policymakers in the field of
seniors’ health and injury prevention.
OLDER ADULTS
A report from the Ontario Brain
Institute. To better understand how
physical activity can contribute to the prevention and management of
Alzheimer’s disease, 871 research articles were reviewed. After closer
inspection and quality scoring, 24 randomized control trials and 21 prospective
cohort studies examining physical activity and Alzheimer’s disease were
selected for further analysis.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Welcome to Ideas that Move You, a
selection of current articles on active living brought to you by McGill
University’s Bloomberg Manulife Prize for the Promotion of Active Health. Like
the Prize, which rewards groundbreaking research and discovery that encourages
healthy living, we are here to bring you the latest news about innovative
practices and ideas from around the world that we hope will inspire and empower
you to lead a more active, healthier life.
The results show that participation in
regular sporting activity is almost universal among primary school children –
what happens subsequently is what matters…... As people progress through
adulthood, whether they participate in regular sporting activity is less
related to attitudes and beliefs about the benefits of sport than to other
transitions that occur in their lives.
A pilot YMCA program with AIR MILES for
Social Change shows loyalty incentives are a significant driver. Commissioned by YMCA and PHAC to devise a
cost-effective incentive program to help increase activities amongst adults and
children, the pilot study launched in April 2013 and is still in market. Results reported here are up until December
2013.
Health & Place Vol 26, March 2014,
Pages 149–160
Highlights:
·
Repeated cross-sectional
studies support a causal relationship of environment with PA.
·
Favorable environmental factors
in 2006 were positively related to PA in 2009.
·
Changes in environmental factors
between 2006 and 2009 led to increased PA in 2009.
·
Future research should include
objective assessment of changes in area factors.
RESEARCH STUFF
Valued at $50,000 CAD, is offered each
year by McGill University to an academic whose research has had, or has the
potential to have, a significant impact on the health and well-being of North
Americans (with research taking place within the last five years). Past winners include Steven Blair and James
Sallis.
Health & Place Vol 26, March 2014,
Pages 7–13
Highlights:
·
Active living research can be
vulnerable to accusations of physical determinism (the belief that environment
can causally influence behavior).
·
Theoretical grounding and
thoughtful research design can limit these accusations and increase validity.
·
Key strategies can include
recognizing shortcomings and using mixed methods research to better understand
context.
SEDENTARISM
This is the first time the Federal
Department of Health’s adult Guidelines have included recommendations to limit
sedentary behavior – a move which reflects growing evidence about the harms of
too much sitting. New guidance is also provided in relation to muscle
strengthening activities twice per week. This is in recognition of the growing
importance of muscle strengthening for chronic disease prevention, and for
maintaining optimal musculoskeletal health and function throughout adult life.
Am J of Preventive Medicine Vol 46, Iss
3, March 2014, Pages 265–272
Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s
Health participants answered questions about time spent sitting, walking, and
in moderate and vigorous leisure activities in 2001 (n=6108); 2004 (n=5902);
2007 (n=5754); and 2010 (n=5535) surveys….. National health insurance claims
data averaged over the survey year ±1 year were used to calculate annual
costs….. Physical inactivity, but not prolonged sitting, was associated with
higher health-related costs in middle-aged women.
What we know about sitting and standing.
In our modern sedentary culture we sit way too much. That’s clearly the
conclusion of the research. But that research also highlights the obvious
remedy: standing!
WOMEN
Preventive Medicine Available online 14
Feb 2014 In Press
Highlights:
·
Interventions to increase
physical activity in pre-adolescent girls result in significant but small
changes
·
Larger effects for interventions
are evident for girls-only and those using educational and multicomponent
strategies
·
Larger effects for
interventions are evident for atheoretical but high quality studies
·
Larger effects for
interventions are evident when targeting physical activity and diet together
WORKPLACE
American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume
46, Issue 3, Supplement 1, March 2014, Pages S42–S51 (Opportunities for Cancer
Prevention During Midlife)
The findings underscore the persistent
impact of the work environment for workers of all ages. Based on the results,
programs or policies aimed at improving the work environment, especially
decision latitude, job flexibility, and workplace harassment should be included
in the design of worksite-based health promotion interventions targeting
physical activity or obesity.
A statewide initiative by Victoria Walks
aimed at getting Victorian workers away from their desks and onto their feet.
It’s all about taking a little time out of your day to Walk the Block and, as a
result, help create happier, healthier workplaces
No comments:
Post a comment