Physical Activity Moving Toward Obesity Solutions: Workshop Summary (2015) / Chapter Skim
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6 Community Strategies for Promoting Physical Activity
6 Community Strategies for Promoting Physical Activity
Pages 93-106
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From page 93... ...
That may not sound like much on a daily basis, Sallis said, but it amounts to about 50 minutes or 2 miles of additional walking weekly, or about 100 additional miles and 10,000 extra calories spent per year. Theoretically, 10,000 calories could prevent a weight gain of about 3 pounds, which is more than the average annual American weight gain.
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From page 94... ...
Additionally, she envisions great potential for information technology to provide personalized advice, citing as an example "Carmen," a bilingual virtual advisor developed for use in community centers as a way to increase walking among older Latino adults. BLUEPRINT FOR ACTIVE LIVING COMMUNITIES: INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS1 "Do built environments matter?
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From page 95... ...
. Sallis mentioned a physical activity meeting he had attended in Atlanta, Georgia, where he and a colleague decided to take a walk but were able to go only a couple of miles because the sidewalk ended abruptly.
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From page 96... ...
are significantly correlated with active transportation in children, adolescents, and adults; sidewalks are significantly correlated with active transportation in children, adults, and seniors; and curb cuts are Figure 6-1
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From page 97... ...
When Sallis and his team considered what they called the total "score" for active transport, a measure taking into account all active transportrelated variables, they found a significant correlation between that score and active transport across all age groups. Active transport increased as the total score increased, with a more than 200 percent difference in active transport days per week between the least and most walkable streetscapes (Sallis et al., in press)
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From page 98... ...
In terms of a policy bright spot related to the link between parks and physical activity and health, Sallis mentioned the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, which has increased rail-trails from 250 to more than 21,000 miles. Concluding Remarks In conclusion, Sallis noted income disparities in many of the variables he had mentioned or described, with lower-income neighborhoods having, for example, less street lighting, fewer sidewalks, less traffic calming, and fewer marked crosswalks (Gibbs et al., 2012)
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From page 99... ...
Information technology (IT) captures real-time information; delivers personalized, contextually relevant messages and information; and has extraordinary population reach and impact.
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From page 100... ...
With respect to telehealth by computer, a major question has been whether automated systems can actually replace human advisors in promoting regular physical activity. King remarked that, while making their flight reservations, some workshop participants probably spoke to an agent over the phone, while others probably used an automated interactive voice response system.
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From page 101... ...
Examples of other potential settings for such virtual advisors, in addition to community centers, include clinics and pharmacies, libraries, worksites, recreational centers, schools, and shopping malls -- anywhere people tend to have to wait or congregate, said King. With respect to smartphone apps, which King noted are increasingly popular and ubiquitous, many have the potential to assess physical activity passively and provide real-time feedback, but few employ other theoretically or empirically based strategies for enhancing motivation and behavior over time.
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From page 102... ...
With respect to sedentary time, the analytic app appeared to perform the best in decreasing self-reported television sitting time. The social app performed the best overall with respect to sedentary behavior accumulated through FIGURE 6-3 Three smartphone apps, each based on a different motivational frame, designed to help users walk more and sit less.
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From page 103... ...
The "We" Domain King described some ways in which the "we" domain of IT empowers citizen scientists to assess and advocate for healthier neighborhoods and social environments. For example, she and her research team have been developing a simple technology, the "Stanford healthy neighborhood discovery tool," to help low-income, underserved residents identify features in their own neighborhoods that facilitate or hinder active living and healthy eating.
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From page 104... ...
. Summary In summary, King offered some thoughts on what can be done with technology to increase levels of physical activity: harness the power of intersectoral and intergenerational teams to "push the envelope" in the physical activity field and learn IT language, culture, and opportunities; seek opportunities to partner with the private sector, as well as with community organizations; reach all groups to address health disparities; determine which communication channels work for which groups; consider "stealth" interventions, where the focus is not just on health but also on other motives and values; address issues of privacy, anonymity, and informed consent; continue to promote physical activity proactively as complementary and synergistic partners; and tackle challenges not just from the top down, via policy, but also from the bottom up, through citizen science engagement.
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From page 105... ...
, and wondered whether there are other examples of communities harnessing social change to promote physical activity. Sallis suggested that active applause, whereby audience members stand up when they applaud, might become another physically active social movement.
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From page 106... ...
106 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Engaging the IT and Venture Capital Communities King was asked to comment on ways to engage the IT and venture capital communities. She replied, "Silicon Valley is more ripe than ever for health-related technologies." After being discouraged for a while, they are back to the table, she said.
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