-------- Original Message --------
Subject: USC Prevention Research Center Notes - Summer 2004
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:41:56 -0400
From: "USCPRC USCPRC" <uscprc@...>
To: <USCPRC@...>

****UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER NOTES****
"Promoting Health through Physical Activity"

The field of physical activity intervention research continues to
evolve. Research to 1) identify policies that may discourage or
encourage PA, 2) evaluate whether or not the implementation of
policies to promote PA actually work, or 3) determine the most
effective means to get such policies approved, holds great promise,
but such research is in its infancy. Interestingly, efforts to
modify existing or implement new policies to promote PA have surged
ahead of the related science. Whenever possible, scientists and
practitioners should be co-engaged to implement PA policy research
to identify the most effective policies and fully understand their
consequences. Together we can nurture this exciting area of
research to maturity. Enjoy your summer!

Steven P. Hooker, PhD, Director
Delores Pluto, PhD, Newsletter Editor (dmpluto@...)
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu
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IN THIS ISSUE - Summer 2004

NEWS YOU CAN USE: VERB Appreciation Day Kit; Bike Safety Radio PSA

RESEARCH NOTES: Environmental Factors and PA Recommendations; PA and
Preschool Policies; Unsafe to Play?; Increasing Stair Use; VERB
Campaign

REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES: Hearts N' Parks Evaluation;
Economic Impact of Bicycling Facilities in NC; Fixing Our Broken PE
System; Maryland SR2S Guidebook; Safety, PA, and Built Environment

PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES: ParticipACTION Success Story; Healthy
Transportation Network; Bicycle Friendly Communities; Shape Up
Somerville; GoGirlGo! Campaign Launched; Powerful Bones, Powerful
Girls

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS: Active Living Research
Conference; Safe Routes to School Institute

USC PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER UPDATE: Recent Publications

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NEWS YOU CAN USE

VERB APPRECIATION DAY KIT: With VERB Appreciation Day, you and your
class or youth group can pick a VERB and have fun with it throughout
the day, planning activities that include the chosen VERB. A free
kit from CDC (while supplies last) will tell you how. The kit serves
100 tweens and includes signage, premiums and guidelines for use:
http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/materials/tweens/index.htm. [CDC PA
listserv]

BIKE SAFETY RADIO PSA: Clear Channel Radio Communications has
recorded public serve announcements (PSAs) to promote bike safety
and sharing the road. You can ask your local Clear Channel station
to air these PSAs, which have room for announcement of sponsorship
by local radio stations, bike clubs, or bicycle advocacy
organizations. To hear the PSAs, go to:
http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/bikesafetypsa.htm [Bikeleague
News]

For a list of PA related observances and events, visit the PA links
section of our website at
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/PAlinks/index.htm.


RESEARCH NOTES

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND PA RECOMMENDATIONS: Over 1900 adults from
2 counties in South Carolina were contacted in a random-digit-dialed
telephone survey to assess the associations between adults'
perceptions of environmental and policy supports and self-reported
physical activity (PA). After adjusting for age, gender, race, and
education, environmental factors associated with meeting PA
recommendations included neighborhood sidewalk condition; worksite
sports teams; presence of mapped walking/jogging or bicycle routes;
number of known walking/jogging routes; number of known bicycling
routes; number of days/month using tracks, trails, paths, or mapped
routes; and number of days/month using public parks or outdoor
recreation areas. Sharpe, Granner, Hutto, & Ainsworth. "Association
of Environmental Factors to Meeting Physical Activity
Recommendations in Two South Carolina Counties." American Journal of
Health Promotion, 18(3):251-257, 2004.

PA AND PRESCHOOL POLICIES: Are PA levels of children related to
differences in policies/practices and overall quality of preschools?
To study this question, the PA level of 266 preschool children was
observed for 1 hour on 2 to 3 days at 9 preschools in Columbia, SC.
Preschool policies and practices were measured in structured
interviews, and overall preschool quality was measured using the
Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale - Revised Edition (ECERS-
R). When children were observed on the playground, they were engaged
in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) about 27% of the
time. Higher levels of MVPA were found in preschools with
policies/practices that promoted PA. Children attending preschools
with more resources and better-educated teachers had significantly
higher levels of MVPA. Dowda, Pate, Trost, et al. "Influences of
Preschool Policies and Practices on Children's Physical Activity."
Journal of Community Health, 29(3):183-196, 2004.

UNSAFE TO PLAY? Baseline data from 1378 urban youth (ages 11.5 to
15.5 years) and their caregivers were analyzed along with
observational data from 80 neighborhood communities to determine the
relationship between neighborhood safety, physical and social
disorder and levels of PA. Data came from the Project on Human
Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), a multidisciplinary,
longitudinal study of youth, families, and neighborhoods, conducted
from 1995 through 2001. Sixty-one percent of youth were reported as
not participating in any recreational PA during the week.
Neighborhood social disorder and community members' assessment of
the neighborhood as unsafe to play were significantly and inversely
associated with youth PA. Molnar, Gortmaker, Bull, & Buka. "Unsafe
to Play? Neighborhood Disorder and Lack of Safety Predict Reduced
Physical Activity Among Urban Children and Adolescents." American
Journal of Health Promotion, 18(5):378-386, 2004.

INCREASING STAIR USE: The CDC conducted four consecutive
environmental interventions to increase stair use at its Rhodes
Building in Atlanta. Interventions included carpeting and paint,
artwork, promotional signage, and music. Evaluation of the
interventions was based on electronically measured stair traffic.
The addition of motivational signs and music were both associated
with an increase in the average number of daily stair trips per
building occupant. The increase for signs dropped off after 3
months, while the increase associated with music increased after 3
months. Kerr, Yore, Ham, & Dietz. "Increasing stair use in a
worksite through environmental changes." American Journal of Health
Promotion, 18(4):312-315, 2004. More information is available on the
CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/stairwell/index.htm.

VERB CAMPAIGN: The July issue of Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
contains three articles on the VERB campaign. A description of the
VERB social marketing campaign, with examples of the campaign's
multimedia materials, can be found in PCD's "Tools & Techniques"
section, along with an interactive version of the campaign's logic
model. In the "Commentary" section Adrian Bauman, PhD, provides a
perspective on the VERB campaign as an example of social marketing
to encourage PA among youth. Access the journal's table of contents
at www.cdc.gov/pcd. [VERB listserv]

For additional summaries of recent research on promoting physically
active lifestyles, visit the Research Updates section of our website
at http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/updates/index.htm.

REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES

HEARTS N' PARKS EVALUATION: The National Recreation and Park
Association and the National Heart and Lung and Blood Institute of
the National Institutes of Health partnered with communities
nationwide to provide Hearts N' Parks, a community-based program to
reduce obesity and risk of heart disease. Children, adolescents,
and adults who participated in the program reported increasing their
PA level, reducing the number of hours they spend being sedentary,
and improved heart healthy eating knowledge, behaviors, and
attitudes. The report evaluating 2003 activities can be found on the
Hearts N' Parks website:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/heart/obesity/hrt_n_pk/index.ht
m.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF BICYCLING FACILITIES IN NC: A case study released
in May 2004 by the North Carolina Department of Transportation,
Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation concludes that
bicycling activity in the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina
provided an estimated $60 million annually to the area. The report
explains how they assessed bicycle activity and economic impact.
Find the summary report at
http://www.ncdot.org/transit/bicycle/safety/safety_economicimpact.ht
ml.

FIXING OUR BROKEN PE SYSTEM: PE4life recently released a report
called "Blueprint for Change - Our Nation's Broken Physical
Education System: Why It Needs to be Fixed, and How We Can Do It
Together." The advocacy tool includes excellent information on how
we go to this point; the importance of quality, daily PE; current
activities to address the problem; barriers to PE reform; and a 10-
step action plan for stakeholders. The "Blueprint" is the first
product of PE4life's new Center for the Advancement of Physical
Education, the nation's first physical education "think tank." A PDF
of the new "Blueprint for Change" is available at the
http://www.pe4life.org/cape.php or request a hard copy by calling
816-472-7345.

MARYLAND SR2S GUIDEBOOK: "Maryland Safe Route to Schools Guidebook"
provides information about how to establish a community-based SR2S
program in your area. The guide, published by the Maryland Bicycle
and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, with support from the Maryland
Department of Transportation and the Maryland Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene, is based on information gathered from a 2-year
pilot study. To download a copy, go to:
http://fha.state.md.us/fha/cphs/chn/index.html or at
http://www.smartstepforward.org/pdf/Low-Res_SR2S_Guidebook_1.pdf
[Centerlines, #98]

SAFETY, PA, AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT: The Spring 2004 newsletter from
the University of California Berkeley Traffic Safety Center examines
the link between PA and changes to the built environment in light of
traffic safety concerns. Topics include pedestrian friendly
planning, safety in numbers, safe streets for older adults, and safe
routes to school. View the newsletter at
http://www.tsc.berkeley.edu/html/newsletter/Spring04/Frontpage.html.

PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

PARTICIPACTION SUCCESS STORY: ParticipACTION was one of the longest-
running communication campaigns to promote physical activity in the
world. Learn more about this program that, for over 30 years, urged
Canadians to make physical activity a part of their everyday lives.
A special supplement to the Canadian Journal of Public Health is
dedicated to this program. Articles describe the program design's,
impact, and legacy are available at
http://www.cpha.ca/english/cjph/cjph.htm.

HEALTHY TRANSPORTATION NETWORK: The California Center for Physical
Activity recently launched its Healthy Transportation Network web
site, http://www.healthytransportation.net. The Healthy
Transportation Network assists California's local officials in
creating more walkable and bicycle-friendly communities. The website
contains helpful resources and tools for promoting active community
environments, along with success stories from cities throughout
California. [Livability Listserv].

BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES: The League of American Bicyclists
awarded 11 communities its prestigious Bicycle Friendly Community
(BFC) designation. Boulder, CO, received the League's gold-level
BFC award. For the complete list of award winners and more info
about the awards, go to http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org.
Awards are announced twice a year. Applications for the October
awards are due August 20. [Bikeleague News]

SHAPE UP SOMERVILLE: Preliminary data in Somerville, MA showed 40
percent of the town's children were overweight. "Shape Up
Somerville: Eat Smart Play Hard", an intervention to combat
childhood obesity, was implemented in 2002 by Tufts University.
Over two years, with classroom education, walk to school program,
modifications to school food services, and encouraging restaurants
to offer healthier choices, the program has shown success. More
details can be found at
http://www.tuftsdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/04/29/40904defc35
88.

PennDOT SAFE ROUTE TO SCHOOL PROGRAM: The Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation has introduced the Home Town Streets and Safe Routes
to School program. One of the primary objectives of the program is
to establish safe walking and bicycling routes to school for
children. The program allows for improvements to be made to the
physical environment such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, traffic
diversion improvements, etc. to promote healthy lifestyles for
children. More information can be found at
http://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/Bureaus/CPDM/Prod/Saferoute.nsf
[Centerlines]

COLORADO SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL BILL BECOMES LAW: Colorado's Safe
Routes to School Bill became law on June 5, 2004. The program will
help alleviate the safety concerns of parents about letting their
children bike and walk to school by providing for installation and
improvement of bicycle/pedestrian trails and pathways, crossings,
and paved shoulders along roads around schools. Safe Routes to
School will also help supply safety signs, deliver safety education
programs, implement traffic-calming programs, and divert traffic to
create safer streets and reduce the number of pedestrians/bicyclists
hurt by cars. For more information, visit
http://www.BicycleColorado.org/for/SafeRoutes. [Bikeleague News]

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BICYCLE ROUTE. Adventure Cycling Association
and The University of Pittsburgh's Center for Minority Health (CMH)
have agreed to create an Underground Railroad Bicycle Route. They
will identify the route, develop maps describing it, and create an
assortment of history and health activities related to the route.
Visit http://www.cmh.pitt.edu/home1.html and
http://www.adventurecycling.org/ for details. [Bikeleague News]

NATIONAL CAMPAIGNS

SMALL STEPS, BIG REWARDS: The first national multicultural diabetes
prevention campaign aimed at high-risk audiences was launched by the
National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP). The NDEP website offers
resources for employers, schools, health professionals, patients.
For information about the campaign, including tip sheets, tools to
help people lose weight and track their PA, and more information
about pre-diabetes, visit the NDEP website at www.ndep.nih.gov. To
order free copies of the materials, call 1-800-438-5383.

GoGirlGo! CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED: The Women's Sports Foundation has
launched a 3-year campaign aimed at inactive girls ages 8-18. The
initiative aims to get one million inactive girls to participate in
regular PA and keep another one million currently active girls from
dropping out of PA. The program will include an education and
awareness campaign, community-based activation, grants program, and
peer-to-peer and adult-to-youth mentoring. For more information
visit www.gogirlgo.com.

POWERFUL BONES, POWERFUL GIRLS: The National Bone Health Campaign
has launched a new website that offers parents ways to help their
daughters make healthy choices. The site provides examples of bone
building physical activities, tips to overcome barriers to PA, and
nutritional information. Visit
http://www.cdc.gov/powerfulbones/parents.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

ACTIVE LIVING RESEARCH CONFERENCE: The 2nd Annual Active Living
Research Conference will be held February 25 & 26, 2005, in San
Diego, California. The Call for Abstracts 2005 is now available
online at
http://www.activelivingresearch.org/index.php/Call_for_Abstracts/122
. The abstract submission deadline is Monday, August 2, 9:00 p.m.
PDT. Registration for this year's conference is limited to 200
participants; however, those selected to present a poster or paper
will be offered priority conference registration.

SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL INSTITUTE: The National Center for Bicycling &
Walking (NCBW) will present a one-day Safe Routes to School
Institute on Tuesday September 7, 2004 in Victoria, British
Columbia. Leading North American practitioners will instruct
participants in how to introduce these programs and what makes them
work. The Institute is part of the NCBW's Pro Walk/Pro Bike 13th
biennial conference on bicycle and pedestrian programs. Standard
registration deadline is July 31st. For more info and registration
go to http://www.bikewalk.org/PWPB2004/PWPB2004.htm [Centerlines]

For a more complete list of conferences and workshops, visit the PA
links section of our website at
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/PAlinks/index.htm.

USC PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER UPDATE

RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM THE USC PRC:

Sharpe, Granner, Hutto, & Ainsworth. "Association of Environmental
Factors to Meeting Physical Activity Recommendations in Two South
Carolina Counties." American Journal of Health Promotion, 18(3):251-
257, 2004. (see summary above)

Tudor-Locke, C; Williams, JE; Reis, JP; Pluto, D. (2004) Utility of
pedometers for assessing physical activity: Construct validity.
Sports Medicine 34(5):281-91.
******************************************************************
Writers: Delores Pluto, Lara Peck

This and past issues of the "University of South Carolina Prevention
Research Center Notes" are available on our website at
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/Newsletter/index.htm. To submit an
item, please e-mail Delores Pluto at dmpluto@....

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, e-mail the
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For continuing discussions about physical activity, join the
Physical Activity and Public Health On-Line Network listserv.
Instructions are located on our website, at
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/Listserv/index.htm.

The USC Prevention Research Center is a member of the CDC Prevention
Research Center's National Network, consisting of 28 Centers in the
U.S. For more information about the PRC National Network, visit
http://www.cdc.gov/prc.
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Prevention Research Center, University of South Carolina
730 Devine Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29208
803-777-4253

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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