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

I can't believe that I've been with the USC PRC for one year now!
It's true what they say, time flies when you're having fun.
Although there are many challenges with operating a research center,
and our work is progressively addressing more complex issues,
physical activity research and practice remain very enjoyable.
Starting Oct. 1, the USC PRC begins another 5-year funding cycle and
we look forward to making new discoveries and sharing our findings
and enjoyment with all of you. I truly hope that you're having as
much fun as we are!
Best regards, Steve

Steven P. Hooker, PhD, Director

NOTE to subscribers - we're trying a new delivery mechanism for the
newsletter. Please let us know if you receive multiple copies so we
can correct our database. Simply reply to this email with any
corrections. Thank you!
Delores Pluto, PhD, Newsletter Editor (dmpluto@...)
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu
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IN THIS ISSUE - September 2004

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Walk To School Day; Walktober; State Legislators
Fitness Challenge

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Call for Childhood Obesity Programs

RESEARCH NOTES: Look Like a Media Figure; Safety in Numbers

REPORTS, SURVEYS, GUIDELINES, RESOURCES: Qualitative Research
Database, Financial Cost of Inactivity Calculator; Stairways to
Health; BRFSS Maps; Prevention Communication Research Database; US
DOT Publications; Urban Sprawl and Public Health

RESOURCES FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN AND YOUTH: Bright Ideas; VERB's
Hispanic/Latino Campaign; PE Checklist; National SR2S Leadership
Training; Curriculum to Reduce TV Viewing

PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES: Washington Funds SR2S Projects;
Chicago Bike Station

USC PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER UPDATE: USC Faculty Position in
Epidemiology of PA; Post-Doc Fellowship at USC PRC; Recent USC PRC
Publications
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NEWS YOU CAN USE

WALK TO SCHOOL DAY: International Walk to School Day is October 6,
2004. This year, the event has been expanded to a full week,
October 4-8 (http://www.iwalktoschool.org). The goals of the event
are to encourage physical fitness, raise awareness community
walkability (or lack of walkability), and reduce traffic congestion,
pollution, and crime. Each participating country provides links to
their Walk To School websites and information about their events.
The United States website, http://www.walktoschool.org, has
information about how to register, get started, and plan a
successful events for the week. CDC also has resources at
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/kidswalk/index.htm, including
community and train-the-trainer PowerPoint presentations.

WALKTOBER: Walktober, is a 31-day national campaign designed to
inspire individuals to make walking a priority, increase their
walking in 31 days, and encourage community organizations and
institutions to place a high value on walkable environment. Program
materials are appropriate for those who are inactive to those who
want to increase their step count. Individuals can set goals and
track their progress during the month of October with material
available at www.walktober.com.

STATE LEGISLATORS FITNESS CHALLENGE: National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL), in cooperation with Coca-Cola and the American
Heart Association, sponsored a "Step With It"(tm) fitness challenge
to see which state legislator could walk the most steps during their
annual meeting in Salt Lake City in July. Maryland Delegate Addie
Eckardt won the competition by walking 44,670 steps, or the
equivalent of 22 miles, during the 2-1/2 day challenge. Read the
press release at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/press/pr040723d.htm.
For more information about the NCSL Healthy Community Design
Program, go to http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/rwj.htm, and for
more about "Step With It"(tm), go to http://www.stepchallenge.com.

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.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

CALL FOR CHILDHOOD OBESITY PROGRAMS: The Cooper Institute, in
Dallas, TX, has received a grant to identify and evaluate childhood
obesity programs with the intent of finding programs with the
greatest potential of having a measurable impact on the problem of
childhood obesity. If you know about a program or initiative that
should be evaluated, please forward program and contact information
to Dr. Jody Wilkinson at fitkids@....

RESEARCH NOTES

LOOK LIKE A MEDIA FIGURE: Surveys were returned by 6545 girls and
5061 boys (ages 9-16) concerning their desire to look like a media
figure and their participation in physical activity. Overall, 46% of
girls and 27% of boys said they make some effort to look like a
media figure. The strongest association between wanting to look like
a media figure and physical activity level was found in boys and
girls 15-16 years old and in those who were overweight. Taveras,
Rifas-Shiman, Field, et al. "The Influence of Wanting to Look Like
Media Figures on Adolescent Physical Activity." Journal of
Adolescent Health, 35(1): 41-50, 2004.

SAFETY IN NUMBERS: Researchers examining the relationship between
the number of pedestrians and bicyclists and collisions with
motorists found some unexpected results. The study found that the
number of collisions of motorists with a pedestrian or bicyclist
decrease when there are more pedestrians or bicyclists in the area.
These findings call for research into the behavior of the motorists
and how they change their behavior around the pedestrians and
bicyclists. In addition, these results provide a strong argument
for policy changes that increase routes for walkers and bicyclists.
Jacobsen, PL. "Safety in numbers: more walkers and bicyclists,
safer walking and bicycling." Injury Prevention, 9:205-209, 2003.

CHILDREN'S PA DRAWINGS: Ninety-one children, ages 6 through 14,
attending a summer recreation program were asked to draw pictures of
physical activity and create a slogan for a physical activity
program in their community. The top activities depicted included
basketball, weight lifting/gym workouts, jump rope, and swimming.
Forty-one percent of the drawings depicted competitive sports and
about one-third included professional teams, celebrities, or brand
names. Only 27% of the drawings had slogans about the health
benefits of physical activity. Sharpe, Greaney, Royce, & Fields.
"Children's drawings of physical activity: Implications for needs
assessment and programming." Journal of Physical Education,
Recreation, and Dance, 75(3):27-32, 2004.

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

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DATABASE: The Nutrition and Physical Activity
Communication team (NuPAC) with CDC's Division of Nutrition and
Physical Activity recently launched a searchable Inventory of
Qualitative Research in Nutrition and Physical Activity. The
Inventory (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/qualitative_research) was
developed to highlight research that may not be widely known or
published in peer reviewed journals.

FINANCIAL COST OF INACTIVITY CALCULATOR: Active Living Leadership
and Fifty Plus Lifelong Fitness, with the support of more than 20
partner organizations, developed a Physical Inactivity Cost
Calculator. The calculator asks you to answer six general
demographic questions. The answers are then used to estimate the
amount of money lost due to physically inactive populations. Try it
out at http://www.activelivingleadership.org/costcalc.htm.

STAIRWAYS TO HEALTH: Stairwell exercise programs are becoming more
popular as companies and businesses look for ways to encourage their
employees to become more active. Stairway to Health, from Health
Canada and the Canadian Council for Health and Active Living at
Work, has free motivational posters, fact sheets, success stories,
and other helpful tools on its website (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-
dgspsp/sth-evs/english/index.htm). The site also includes
PowerPoint presentation templates to help present stairwell programs
to landlords, managers, and employees. The CDC Division of
Nutrition and Physical Activity's StairWELL to Better Health website
(http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/stairwell/index.htm) provides tips
to improve the safety and aesthetics of your stairwell, ways to
track stairwell usage, a project checklist, and a budget template.

BRFSS MAPS: An interactive mapping application is now available on
the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) website. The
application graphically displays the prevalence of behavioral risk
factors at the state and metropolitan/micropolitan statistical area
(MMSA) level. Visitors to the website can create, save, and print
state and MMSA level maps detailing a variety of health-related risk
factors. To see how many people in your state participate in no
physical activity, select the "exercise" category at
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/gisbrfss/.

PREVENTION COMMUNICATION RESEARCH DATABASE: The Prevention
Communication Research Database includes audience research conducted
or sponsored by Department of Health and Human Services. This
searchable database contains reports on prevention topics (rather
than treatment studies) and is designed to provide access to
findings that are not widely known or distributed. The database has
summaries and reports of audience research on physical activity
(among other topics) to be used by public health practitioners to
improve their understanding of different audiences and maximize
their resources by decreasing or eliminating the need to conduct
similar research. The database can be found at
www.health.gov/communication.

US DOT PUBLICATIONS: Two publications related to physical activity
from the US Department of Transportation are now available online.
"An Annotated Bibliography on Health and Physical Activity in
Transportation Planning"
(http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/Health/Bibliography.htm)
provides useful resources for transportation planners interested in
incorporating goals to encourage physical activity into their
planning processes and for public health officials interested in
understanding and contributing to the transportation planning
process. The second publication, "Integrating Health and Physical
Activity Goals Into Transportation Planning: Building the Capacity
of Planners and Practitioners Proceedings of the Portland
Roundtable"
(http://www.planning.dot.gov/Documents/Health/IntHealthTA.htm)
summarizes a meeting that brought together transportation and public
health professionals to discuss opportunities and strategies to
include health and activity goals within the transportation planning
process. [NCPPA News 8/2/04]

URBAN SPRAWL AND PUBLIC HEALTH: A new book from Island Press
examines the direct and indirect impacts of sprawl on human health
and well-being. The authors discuss opportunities to improve public
health through alternative approaches to design, land use, and
transportation. This book summarizes the evidence linking adverse
health outcomes with sprawling development, and outlines the complex
challenges of developing policy that promotes and protects public
health. Frumkin, Frank, & Jackson. "Urban Sprawl and Public Health:
Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities." Island
Press, 2004. Available from www.islandpress.org.

RESOURCES FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN AND YOUTH:

BRIGHT IDEAS: California Project LEAN, with funding from The
California Endowment, has created BRIGHT IDEAS, a new resource for
communities and schools to share "Bright Ideas" for improving
healthy eating and physical activity options in schools and
community programs. Through this forum on the Project LEAN website,
you can submit your own bright idea for others to read, learn about
successful strategies and programs that have made it easier for
youth to eat healthy food and/or be physically active, and link to
other people and organizations using successful strategies to
increase student access to healthy foods and physical activity.
Visit http://www.californiaprojectlean.org/brightideas/ to find out
more.

VERB's HISPANIC/LATINO CAMPAIGN: VERB's Hispanic/ Latino campaign,
"Niños Activos. Familias Sanas" ("Active Children. Healthy
Families") provides parents with information about why and how to
get their children involved in physical activity for at least 60
minutes every day. The campaign uses a website (www.NAFS.org),
television ads, and a mobile tour that makes visits to recreational
centers and shopping malls. To watch the television ads online, go
to http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/hispanic_latino/index.htm.
[VERB(tm) Update, August 24, 2004]

PE CHECKLIST: This new school year National Association for Sport
and Physical Education (NASPE) urges principals, teachers and
parents to conduct an assessment of their school's physical
education program. To get your free copy, go to
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/pdf_files/2004PEchecklist.pdf. NASPE
has additional resources available at www.naspeinfo.org, or call 1-
800-213-7193, ext. 410.

NATIONAL SR2S LEADERSHIP TRAINING: National Safe Route to School
Leadership Training will be held October 14-15, 2004 in Marin
County, CA. The workshop, which will include classroom and in-field
exercises, will cover how to initiate and maintain a successful Safe
Routes to School (SR2S) program and how to implement effective
encouragement, education, enforcement and engineering measures. For
more information and registration, visit
http://www.saferoutestoschools.org/Programs/SR2SLeadershipTraining.p
df. [Centerlines]

CURRICULUM TO REDUCE TV VIEWING: The Student Media Awareness to
Reduce Television (SMART), a curriculum designed to encourage
elementary school children to reduce the time they spend watching
television and playing video games, is now available from the
Stanford Health Promotion Resource Center. The program is intended
for use in 3rd and 4th grade classrooms throughout the school year.
The curriculum has been successful in reducing weight gain and
aggressive behaviors (see Robinson. :Reducing children's television
viewing to prevent obesity: a randomized controlled trial." JAMA,
282:1561-1567, 1999). To learn more about the curriculum and for
ordering information, visit http://noTV.stanford.edu.

PROMOTING ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

WASHINGTON FUNDS SR2S PROJECTS: Washington State Department of
Transportation's Safe Routes to School program recently awarded
grants to 11 local projects. Washington's SR2S program is a
coordinated effort between the Washington State Departments of
Health and Transportation, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission,
the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the
Bicycle Alliance of Washington. Read about the funded projects at
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/bike/safe_routes_projects.htm.
[Centerlines, 102]

CHICAGO BIKE STATION: The new Millennium Park Bicycle Station opened
in Chicago in July. This state-of-the-art facility features secure
parking for 300 bicycles, showers and lockers with towel service,
bike repair and rentals, a snack bar, internet station, bicycle
safety classes, bike rentals, tours and more. The bike station also
caters to runners and inline skaters. The website
(http://www.chicagobikestation.com) promotes bicycling to companies
and let them know why they should promote bicycle commuting.
[BikeLeague News]

USC PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER UPDATE

FACULTY POSITION IN EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PA: The University of South
Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health (home of the USC PRC) is
seeking applicants for a tenure-track faculty position in
Epidemiology with emphasis on physical activity. Additional
information about the position can be found at
http://www.sph.sc.edu/positions/positions.htm.

POST-DOC FELLOWSHIP AT USC PRC: The USC PRC is seeking a post-
doctoral fellow who will plan, manage, and provide oversight of
measurement and data collection related activities for a 5-year
school-based trial, "Self-Determination for Increasing Physical
Activity," evaluating the effects of an innovative intervention on
increasing physical activity in adolescents. For more information,
go to
http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/positionannouncements/openings.htm.


RECENT USC PRC PUBLICATIONS:
Addy, Ainsworth, Kirtland, Wilson, et al. "Associations of social
and physical environmental supports for physical activity and
walking behaviors." American Journal of Public Health, 94(3):440-
443, 2004.
Cavnar, Kirtland, Evans, Wilson, et al. "Evaluating the Quality of
Recreation Facilities: Developing an Assessment Tool." Journal of
Parks and Recreation Administration, 22, 96-114, 2004.
Granner & Sharpe. "Evaluating Community Coalition Characteristics
and Functioning: A Summary of Measurement Tools." Health Education
Research, 19(5):514-532, 2004.
Sharpe, Granner, Hutto, Ainsworth, & Cook. "Association of body mass
index to meeting physical activity recommendations." American
Journal of Health Behavior, 28(6):522-530, 2004.
Sharpe, Granner, Ainsworth, & Hutto. "Association of environmental
factors to meeting physical activity recommendations in two South
Carolina counties." American Journal of Health Promotion,
18(3):251-257, 2004.
Sharpe, Greaney, Royce, & Fields. "Children's drawings of physical
activity: Implications for needs assessment and programming."
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 75(3):27-32,
2004. (see summary above)
Wilson. Obesity Prevention in Underserved Adolescent Girls. Health
Education and Behavior, 31, 5-6, 2004.
Wilson, Kirtland, Ainsworth, & Addy. "Socioeconomic Status and
Perceptions of Access and Safety for Physical Activity." Annals of
Behavioral Medicine, 28, 20-28, 2004.
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Writers: Lara Peck, Delores Pluto.

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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