The environment in which you live can make it easier, or more challenging, to be physically active. Many Americans have become sedentary over the years because physical activity has been slowly engineered out of our lives. Physical changes to communities can create safe, healthy environments that encourage and promote active living.
Physical Activity
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Active Living for Rural Children
December 1, 2010 | Journal Article
A study to identify perceived environmental factors that support or impede rural children's physical activity found a wide range of both barriers to and opportunities for physical activity, with a focus on rural-specific hindering factors.
Adapting Physical Activity Interventions to Prevent Obesity in Culturally Diverse Populations
July 1, 2009 | Commentary
To address obesity in culturally diverse populations, interventions should include "real-world" practices that are adapted to cultural needs, values and resources, according to Terry L. Bazzarre, Ph.D., a former senior program director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Systematic Review of Physical Activity Interventions Implemented with American Indian and Alaska Native Populations in the United States and Canada
July 1, 2009 | Journal Article
According to this literature review, the most effective, sustainable interventions to reduce obesity within the American Indian and Alaska Native populations are programs that combine the strengths of (1) tribal-run, culturally-adapted efforts that provide services to a wide range of the population with (2) an evaluative component that reflects the needs of a public health researcher to measure
African-American Women in Alabama Give Tips on What will Get Them Moving
August 1, 2003 | Program Result
From January 2000 through June 2002, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham studied the factors that promote physical activity among rural African-American women in Wilcox County, Ala.
Obesity and Health Risk of Children in the Mississippi Delta
October 1, 2012 | Journal Article
Elementary school-age children in the Mississippi Delta have a troubling distinction: a large percentage of them are overweight or obese, based on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratios. Assessing the impact of health policies, this study suggests, requires consistent measures of multiple weight-related outcomes, including BMI and waist-to-height ratio.
Overhauling a Tribal Food System
April 11, 2012 | Program Result
The Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative in rural Oklahoma brings together tribal decisionmakers, health experts and farmers to help overhaul the local food system, address obesity among native people and reconnect with traditional tribal practices.
Communities Creating Healthy Environments: Improving Access to Healthy Foods and Safe Places to Play in Communities of Color
National Program
To build state and national momentum to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity through strategic investment in those communities most affected.
Development of the Rural Active Living Assessment Tools
January 1, 2010 | Journal Article
Obesity is a problem in rural, as well as urban, U.S. communities. Researchers have developed a set of easy-to-use, accessible assessment tools to help rural communities examine how friendly their locales are to healthy, active living.
Active Living for Rural Youth
May 1, 2009 | Journal Article
Rural youth are at greater risk for obesity than children in urban areas. This report applies active living concepts, which emphasize the interaction of environmental factors with individual behaviors, to a study of physical activity (PA) among rural youth.
Teaming Up to Address Childhood Obesity in Rural Washington State
January 14, 2009 | Program Result
The Washington Health Foundation funded three projects in rural areas of Washington State that addressed childhood obesity by changing policy, the environment or individual behavior. RWJF provided a matching grant.