Category Archives: Physical activity
Faces of Public Health: Susan Yee
Kids participating in Chinatown JUMP's iMove afterschool program
A community needs assessment of a Chinese-American community in New York City several years ago found multiple barriers to physical activity for children and teens including parents unable to supervise kids at play because of long work hours, unsafe neighborhoods, limited knowledge or access to existing programs, financial hardship, inadequate support for physical activity in schools, limited time due to competing priorities such as academics, and too much time in front of video games, computer screens and television. To increase exercise time and options and help to reduce obesity rates among Chinese-American youth, public health professionals from the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center sought out funding from the New York State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to create the Chinatown JUMP (Joining Urban Partners for More Physical Activity) program.
>>Read more on New York's Health Improvement Plan, which sets out a plan for similar community health assessments and cross-sectoral collaborations in response to these findings.
Chinatown JUMP currently works with eight afterschool programs to incorporate daily physical activity into the curriculum of these academic programs, blending activity with learning. Program goals include:
- Promote healthier and fit children by educating them and their families about the correlation between exercise and staying healthy.
- Increase staff capacity to support students’ healthier lifestyle through training and technical assistance.
- Establish an afterschool culture that supports physical activity as well as academic achievement.
The program works hard to incorporate parents’ support and involvement as well. Participating students in iMove receive a community resource guide with information about free and low-cost recreational centers and public spaces in the neighborhood to share with their parents. Parents are also invited to workshops on the importance of physical activity and healthy eating habits.
Susan Yee, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center
NewPublicHealth recently spoke with Susan Yee, Associate Director of Programs at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, about Chinatown JUMP.
NewPublicHealth: What is the Chinatown JUMP program and what do you think sets it apart from other programs with similar goals?
Susan Yee: Chinatown JUMP’s goal is to try to improve opportunities for more physical activity in the Manhattan Chinatown area in order to create sustainable changes within the community.
New Year, New Plan for Health
Yes, today is Wednesday. But as a new year dawns and New Year's resolutions kick in (learning Zumba and building yoga into our weekly schedule are high on the list for NewPublicHealth staffers) let's call today an honorary Monday—a day to embrace a new plan for health. The Monday Campaigns are here to help.
With the slogan "The day all health breaks loose," Monday Campaigns are a public health initiative of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion at Syracuse University. The goal is to help prevent chronic disease by offering a weekly prompt that can support people in starting and sustaining healthy behaviors.
Why Monday?
Research at Johns Hopkins found that a week is a critical unit of time in planning lives and Monday has special significance as the beginning of the week. People view Monday as a day for a fresh start and a chance to set healthy intentions for the next 6 days. They’re more likely to start diets, exercise regimes, quit smoking and schedule doctor’s appointments on Monday than any other day. And, according to the Hopkins researchers, they’re looking for help in setting and carrying out their healthy intentions for the week.
The campaigns have grown to include government and non-profit organizations, businesses, media outlets and communities. The three schools provide research, case studies, health-related content, marketing concepts and programs ready for individuals, communities and public health departments. Specific campaigns include:
- Meatless Monday
- Quit & Stay Quit Monday
- Kids Cook Monday
- Move It Monday
- Man Up Monday
- Caregiver Monday
The 2013 campaigns began last Monday, with a weekly series that offers tips for 2013. First up: set some long and short term goals:
A long-term goal can be something to work towards, like getting 2 ½ hours of activity each week or eating 5 servings of produce each day. Short-term goals are the smaller actions you take to build up to your objective.
>>Weigh in: Which Monday campaigns will your community try this year?
How to Help Parks Help City Residents
City parks can be a cost-free venue for people of all ages and backgrounds to be physically active. Two presenters at the American Public Health Association meeting discussed programs to increase physical activity opportunities in city parks during a session on Tuesday afternoon. The two projects were funded by Communities Putting Prevention to Work grants and focused on neighborhoods that have a high proportion of low-income and minority residents.
Adam B. Becker, PhD, MPH, from Lurie Children's Hospital, spoke about the work the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) undertook to increase walking access to parks. Members of 10 community-based organizations were trained to assess barriers to park access using the Neighborhood Walkability Assessment Tool. The tool included analyses of possible recommendations to overcome any identified obstacles to walking.
CLOCC also created a guide to be used by city planners and engineers when deciding how to improve the walkability of local streets. The guide included suggestions such as improving sidewalks and installing pedestrian countdown timers and pedestrian islands in streets. Dr. Becker said that the city agencies are excited to have better data to help them identify walkabilty problems and prioritize solutions.
In the second presentation, Mary Thomas, MPH, from the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, described a program that installed outdoor fitness equipment for use by community members in city parks. The goal of this program was to increase park use, and to increase physical activity among residents when they use parks.
In a partnership with the Parks and Recreation Department, fitness equipment was installed in 28 San Antonio parks, and the project was publicized using flyers and newspapers. A survey of park users showed that 54 percent spent more time in the park after the installation of fitness equipment, and most said that the equipment was user friendly and had clear instructions.
Park users identified the lack of water fountains and shade as the biggest barriers to using the fitness equipment more often. And, it should be noted that 88 percent of park users traveled to the park by car. San Antonio and Chicago clearly have the opportunity to learn from each other’s efforts.
CDC Vital Signs: Walking
The August Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vital Signs monthly report on health indicators focuses on adult walking and finds that 62 percent of U.S. adults get their physical activity by walking at least once for ten minutes or more per week, up from 56 percent n the 2005. However, close to 50 percent of adults don’t get enough physical activity to improve their health, the report finds. The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend at least 2.5 hours of moderate intensity aerobic activity per week, such as brisk walking.
“Having more places for people to walk in our communities will help us continue to see increases in walking, the most popular form of physical activity among American adults,” says CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH.
“People need more safe and convenient places to walk,” adds Joan M. Dorn, PhD, branch chief of the Physical Activity and Health Branch in CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. “People walk more where they feel protected from traffic and safe from crime. Communities can be designed or improved to make it easier for people to walk to the places they need and want to go.”
The Vital Signs report offers suggestions to provide better spaces and more places for walking:
- State and local governments can consider joint use agreements to let community residents use local school tracks or gyms after classes have finished.
- Employers can create walking paths around or near the work place and promote them with signs and route maps.
- Residents can participate in local planning efforts that identify best sites for walking paths and priorities for new sidewalks.
>>Read more on smart growth for more walkable cities.
Are You Sitting Down for This?
Standing while working has become a way-of-work for some of the NewPublicHealth staff, and most report that after a brief breaking in-period the foot aches give way to a more alert, healthier-feeling workday. So we were amused, and delighted, to see this recent essay on the merits and drawbacks of standing versus sitting all day in PARADE magazine by author A.J. Jacobs. The excerpt is from Jacobs’ new book, Drop Dead Healthy.
>>Weigh in: Were you standing or sitting while you read this post? Which would you rather be doing?
