October 2008

Previous Newsletters

From the Active for Life Program Office
Tips, Tactics and Tools
In the News
Upcoming Events
Funding Opportunities

From the Active for Life® National Program Office

Revised Physical Activity Guidelines
The new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans were released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on October 7. The guidelines are available on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Web site (http://www.hhs.gov). Also available on the HHS Web site is a fact sheet and FAQ's that can be used to respond to questions and communicate with clients and patients. HHS also offers a drop-in news article about the guidelines. The guidelines can also be found on the CDC website: http://www.CDC.gov/physicalactivity. The federal guidelines state adults should exercise for two and a half hours - or 150 minutes - per week at a moderate intensity. This breaks down into 30 minutes of exercise five days per week, consistent with guidelines released last August by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association. ACSM has created resources at http://www.acsm.org/physicalactivityto assist in your professional translation and communication of exercise recommendations. These resources focus on the message of simply starting an exercise program regardless of minutes-per-day recommendations. A pre-exercise health assessment and barriers to exercise assessment are available, as well as demonstrative exercise videos and additional tools for success. Pass them on to your patients and clients to showcase the importance and ease of integrating physical activity into everyday life.

Evidence-Based Behavioral Practice Website and Training Modules
The Interdisciplinary Council for Training in Evidence-Based Behavioral Practice (EBBP), sponsored by National Institutes of Health’s Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research has announced the release of a newly redesigned website and training modules at http://www.ebbp.org. A goal of the EBBP project is to develop online learning tools to help behavioral practitioners and students integrate research and practice in real-world conditions. The three training modules currently available are The EBBP Process, Searching for Evidence, and Introduction to Systematic Reviews.

In the News

Slight Decrease in Physical Activity
In early 2008, 29.5 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 years and over engaged in regular leisure-time physical activity, which was lower, but not significantly different from the 2007 first quarter estimate of 30.8 percent. The data is from the National Health Interview Survey, Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data from the January-March 2008 National Health Interview Survey (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/).

Exercise with Diet Helps Burn Fat
A group of sedentary and overweight older people placed on a four-month exercise program not only became more fit, but burned off more fat, compared to older sedentary people who were placed on a diet but did not exercise. The new study also showed that when older people diet without exercising, they lose more lean muscle compared to those who exercise. However, when they combined weight loss with exercise, it nearly completely prevented the loss of lean muscle mass. These results are important because older people tend to lose muscle mass as they age, and too much muscle loss may interfere with activities of daily living. The study is published in the September issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology (http://jap.physiology.org/).

Exercise Reduces Development of Delirium
According to research published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.html?ref=0002-8614), participating in an activity, especially regular physical exercise, appears to protect hospitalized elderly patients from developing delirium. Researchers who studied 779 newly hospitalized patients age 70 or older found that regular exercise reduced delirium by 24 percent.

Upcoming Events

Ladder to Leadership
This initiative, a collaboration of the RWJF and the Center for Creative Leadership, is designed to enhance the leadership capacity of community-based nonprofit health organizations serving vulnerable populations. Ladder to Leadership focuses on developing critical leadership competencies for early- to mid-career professionals through a 16-month leadership development curriculum. The program will be delivered in nine priority communities on a staggered schedule over the next four years. Up to 30 fellows will be selected to participate in the program in each of nine targeted communities across the U.S.: Central NY; Cleveland, OH; Birmingham, AL; Albuquerque, NM; Eastern NC; Portland, OR.; Mid-South Region (Western TN, Eastern AR, and Northern MS); NJ (specific site/region to be determined); and Starr County, TX. For information, visit the RWFJ Web site at http://www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=20281&c=EMC-FA144.

Active Living Research and Healthy Eating Research
This national program of RWJF supports research to identify promising policy and environmental strategies for increasing physical activity, promoting healthy eating, and preventing obesity. Funding will support time-sensitive, opportunistic studies to evaluate changes in policies or environments with the potential to reach children who are at highest risk for obesity, including African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander children (ages 3 to 18) who live in low-income communities or communities with limited access to affordable healthy foods and/or safe opportunities for physical activity. The deadline for proposals is Oct. 15. For information, visit http://www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=20361.