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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Physical Activity
April 1, 2011 | Book
This policy paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research examines factors contributing to obesity, such as physical inactivity. Data are taken from surveys conducted as part of the 2000-2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey.
Transit and Health: Mode of Transport, Employer-Sponsored Public Transit Pass Programs, and Physical Activity
March 25, 2009 | Book
Analysis of data from a 2001-2002 survey of travel within the Atlanta area found those who make more mass transit trips are more likely to walk 30 or more minutes per day, enough to meet a government recommendation for physical activity.
Connecting Active Living Research and Public Policy
March 24, 2009 | Book
This introduction to a supplement in the Journal of Public Health Policy recaps the 2008 Active Living Research Conference, which focused on creating environments to encourage people to be active in their daily lives. The conference also examined how research can influence policy-making.
Disparities in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors Among US Children and Adolescents
February 28, 2009 | Book
Contrary to previous studies, the level of physical activity among kids varies more by age and gender than by ethnicity or socioeconomic status, according to a survey that reviewed previous literature and relied on accelerometer data of activity levels rather than self-reporting.
Playworks/Sports4Kids
January 1, 2011 | Book
In this chapter of the Anthology, Carolyn Newbergh tells the story of a promising program that emerged from a conversation between an activist trying to raise money for a children's art museum and an Oakland elementary school principal who, concerned about making recess less unruly, asked why nobody was doing anything about bringing play back onto the playground.
The Relationship Between Perceptions of Neighborhood Characteristics and Obesity Among Children
April 1, 2011 | Book
This policy paper is from a series published by the National Bureau of Economic Research on obesity in the United States. The authors examined whether maternal perceptions of neighborhood environment affect children’s body weight.
The Active Living Programs
January 1, 2008 | Book
As a consequence of sedentary lifestyles, obesity rates have climbed dramatically over the last half-century, leading to increases in diabetes, heart attacks and other illnesses.
Factors Associated with Federal Transportation Funding for Local Pedestrian and Bicycle Programming and Facilities
March 25, 2009 | Book
Federal funding for projects to improve pedestrian and bicycle transportation varies by the relative poverty and education levels of the counties where they are located, as well as by region, according to the first study of the patterns of such federal funding.
Effect of Innovative Building Design on Physical Activity
March 25, 2009 | Book
Programming office building elevators to stop only on every third floor, so that stairs become the only access to certain floors for nondisabled employees, can push employees to use stairs more and thus get more physical activity, as it did in the California building which is the subject of this study.
Correlates of Walking to School and Implications for Public Policies
March 25, 2009 | Book
A survey of parents of young schoolchildren in Austin, Texas reveals a 15-minute walk to school, accompanied by an adult, appears to be acceptable, as long as children do not need to travel through high-traffic or unsafe areas.