Connecting Active Living Research and Public Policy: Transdisciplinary Research and Policy Interventions to Increase Physical Activity

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (S1) ◽  
pp. S1-S15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M Schilling ◽  
Billie Giles-Corti ◽  
James F Sallis
2021 ◽  
pp. 109019812199628
Author(s):  
Monika Szpunar ◽  
Andrew M. Johnson ◽  
Molly Driediger ◽  
Shauna M. Burke ◽  
Jennifer D. Irwin ◽  
...  

The Childcare PhysicaL ActivitY (PLAY) policy was an evidence-informed, eight-item institutional-level policy document targeting children’s physical activity, outdoor play, and sedentary time. Nine childcare centers in London, Ontario, participated in this cluster, randomized controlled trial. Early Childhood Educators allocated to the experimental group, from five childcare centers in London, Ontario, implemented the policy for young children (18 months to 4 years) for 8 weeks and documented adherence to each policy item (i.e., dose) in daily logs. Program evaluation surveys ( n = 21) and interviews ( n = 10) were completed postintervention to assess Early Childhood Educators’ perspectives of feasibility, context, enjoyment, communication between researchers and childcare staff, and likelihood of future implementation. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and thematic analysis was conducted. Adherence to policy items ranged from 16.5% (for delivery of shorter, more frequent outdoor periods) to 85.9% (for delivery of unstructured/child-directed play). Participants reported effective communication between the research team and childcare centers (0 = not at all effective to 5 = very effective; M = 4.20; SD = 0.83) but noted that they were unlikely to continue the implementation of more frequent outdoor periods (0 = not at all likely to 5 = extremely likely; M = 2.19; SD = 1.21). Interview themes included weather as a prominent barrier and the use of verbal prompts as a solution for implementing the policy. As this was a small and short-term intervention, this pilot study offers important insight on larger scale policy interventions aimed at increasing physical activity and minimizing sedentary time among children enrolled in childcare.


2021 ◽  
Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽  
Author(s):  
Annelise Brochier ◽  
Arvin Garg ◽  
Alon Peltz

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 3622-3626
Author(s):  
Corina Ilinca ◽  
Marian Preda ◽  
Stefania Matei ◽  
Stephen J. Cutler ◽  
Oana Tautu ◽  
...  

Salt intake is one of the important predictors of hypertension, a widespread chronic disease among adults. Much remains to be known about its causes, especially in the Romanian context, where there is a scarcity of analyses on this particular topic. Its predictors are relevant for public policy in order to evaluate what strategy should be adopted given actual levels of salt intake and the way people think about their levels of salt intake. Our analyses focus on actual and perceived salt intake. Data for this analysis come from the SEPHAR project, gathered in 2016 (wave 3), a nationally representative sample of Romanians. After noting a major discrepancy between perceived and actual levels of salt intake, we used two regressions with actual and perceived salt intake as dependent variables and three types of factors as independent variables: socio-demographic (age, gender, region, type of locality, education), lifestyle (fat diet, alcohol consumption, active lifestyle, and smoking) and related diseases (obesity and diabetes). Results show Romanians have similar levels of salt intake perceptions independently of the characteristics considered, except fat diet and diabetes, and similar levels of actual salt intake except age and gender, even though previous research shows that there are differences between individuals across these characteristics when it comes to considering hypertension as a dependent variable. We conclude by noting policy interventions regarding salt intake based on the results of this research, especially the need to update the current Romanian TV campaign to reduce salt intake or similar campaigns from other countries.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Juan Cervantes Niño ◽  
Lylia Palacios Hernández

Generalmente se afirma que las actividades de la pepena informal son algunas de las peores formas de empleo en México. Sin embargo, con base en la información de un estudio nacional y mediante una metodología de evaluación rápida, en este texto se destaca que muchas de las características típicas de dichas actividades han mutado y que en la actualidad se pueden encontrar nuevas realidades de esas ocupaciones, las cuales conllevan diferentes desigualdades, pero pueden inducir a una mejor formulación de intervenciones de política pública. AbstractInformal scavenging in Mexico is generally held to be the worst form of employment. However, on the basis of information from a national study and a quick evaluation methodology, this text shows that many of the typical characteristics of these activities have changed and that nowadays, these occupations have new realities, which lead to different realities yet which can lead to a better formulation of public policy interventions.


Circulation ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 125 (suppl_10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory W Heath ◽  
Sarah White-Woerner

Introduction: Although it is known that urban design and land use at the community level contributes to active living, there remains a paucity of such information among low income and diverse populations affected by such infrastructure. Reconstruction of an inner city community in Chattanooga, Tennessee afforded the opportunity to assess the impact of new urbanist construction on active living among African-American children/youth living in the inner city. Hypothesis: Transportation and recreational physical activity levels among children/youth residing in a new urbanist community was hypothesized to be higher compared to demographically similar children/youth who reside in a more traditional inner city community. Methods: Using the System for Observing Physical Activity and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) we examined an urban trail and recreational park areas of two distinct communities to assess physical activity, sports, and recreational of children/youth. SOPARC data were collected in each of 4 settings in each community (East, a traditional and South, a new urbanist) during four 1-h observation periods during 7 days of clement weather. Observations were made during each day of the week in each setting (i.e., Sunday through Saturday). Results: The SOPARC assessments of the urban trail and pedestrian/bicycle routes in the South and East yielded a total of 672 and 436 children/youth observations, respectively. South children/youth were over three times more likely to engage in vigorous physical activity compared to their East counterparts (Mantel-Haenszel Chi Square = 19.67; P< 0.00001). Conclusions: The present findings support the hypothesis that enhanced environmental supports, such as those found within the South community, increase the likelihood of greater levels of activity among children/youth compared to children/youth that were not exposed to these environmental enhancements. This comparative difference was most remarkable when examining the SOPARC assessment differences along the transport path/sidewalk routes, with South children/youth being significantly more likely than the East children/youth to engage in more vigorous forms of physical activity along this transport/recreational corridor, providing evidence that access to these types of ‘urban’ trails appears to translate into increased opportunities for physical activity among children/youth.


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