2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans will be launched in October 2008, along with consumer materials and toolkits for supporting organizations. The Guidelines are based on the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report, 2008, which is now available at http://www.health.gov/PAguidelines. The Committee report is a valuable resource that summarizes the current science relating physical activity to health outcomes. The report can be downloaded in its entirety or by individual chapters. The site also includes an additional 300 pages of online only appendix tables.
Stay tuned for October launch details!

Office of the Surgeon General
The Office of the Surgeon General, led by Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H. has a new web site: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/obesityprevention/

The Web site is designed for parents and other caring adults who want to help children eat better and move more. The site is part of the “Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future” campaign, the HHS childhood overweight and obesity prevention initiative that helps kids to stay active, learn healthy eating habits, and make healthy choices.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Research
“Investment in Safe Routes to School projects: public health benefits for the larger community” suggests that SRTS projects may improve physical activity levels among children and adults.  The article can be found in the July issue of Preventing Chronic Disease, which is available at: www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2008/jul/pdf/07_0087.pdf

VERB Campaign Articles
A supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, entitled “The VERB™ Campaign. Not about Health, All about Fun:  Marketing Physical Activity to Children” is now available.  Eleven articles provide behind-the-scenes stories on the development, marketing and promotion, and evaluation of the successful VERB Campaign, which ended on September 30, 2006.
Free access to the supplement is available at http://www.ajpm-online.net/ (American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 34, Issue 6, Supplement 1). 

Additional information about CDC’s VERB Campaign can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/.

New Healthy Weight Web Site
The Division of Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity launched the Healthy Weight: It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle! Web site.  The site features information on how to balance calories, prevent weight gain, lose weight, eat for a healthy weight, and prevent childhood obesity.  Visit www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/healthyweight

Community Health Promotion Handbook - Update
CDC and Partnership for Prevention released Places for Physical Activity: Facilitating Development of a Community Trail and Promoting Its Use to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth and Adults—An Action.  It is one of five guides that comprise The Community Health Promotion Handbook: Action Guides to Improve Community Health available at www.prevent.org/actionguides/Handbook.
 
Concussions in Youth Sports – New Resource
The “Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports” initiative has e-cards that target coaches, parents, and athletes.  The cards can be sent to up to five people at one time and direct recipients to the initiative’s Website for more information.  To view the e-cards, please visit http://www2a.cdc.gov/eCards/browse.asp?act=brs

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

2007 BRFSS Data and Documentation and Prevalence Tables Now Available  
The BRFSS is a unique, state-based surveillance system active in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.  Information on health behaviors including physical activity, clinical preventive health practices, and health care access, primarily related to chronic disease and injury, is obtained from a representative sample of non-institutionalized adults, 18 years and older, in each state.  The BRFSS provides flexible, timely, and ongoing data collection that allows for state-to-state and state-to-nation comparisons.  State-specific data, including racial-and-ethnic-specific data from the BRFSS, provide a sound basis for developing and evaluating public health programs, including programs targeted to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health risks.  The BRFSS is the largest telephone-based surveillance system in the world, with 430,912 interviews in 2007.

The 2007 BRFSS data and documentation files are located at www.cdc.gov/brfss/
technical_infodata/surveydata/2007.htm
The 2007 BRFSS prevalence data are located at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp.  

Update of the Web-Enabled Analysis Tool (WEAT)
The online Web-Enabled Analysis Tool (WEAT) allows people to conduct analyses with the option of using several distinct variables from the BRFSS web site. Users can do logistic or cross-tabulation analyses using data for the entire nation or by state.  

The WEAT BRFSS data are located at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/
s_broker/htmsql.exe/weat/index.hsql.

Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report News
Arthritis as a Potential Barrier to Physical Activity Among Adults with Diabetes: Using data from the BRFSS, researchers found thatarthritis prevalence was 52.0% among adults with diagnosed diabetes and the prevalence of physical inactivity was higher among adults with diabetes and arthritis (29.8%) compared with adults with diabetes alone (21.0%).  The association was independent of age, sex, or body mass index (BMI). The higher prevalence of physical inactivity among adults who have both diabetes and arthritis suggests that arthritis might be an additional barrier to increasing physical activity.  The full article is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/
mmwrhtml/mm5718a3.htm?s_cid=mm5718a3_e

National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP)
More than 3 million or 13 percent of African Americans aged 20 and older are living with diabetes in the United States. 1 in 3 African American youth born in 2000 are expected to develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.  
NDEP developed a new community curriculum, Power to Prevent: A Family Lifestyle Approach to Diabetes Prevention, to address this diabetes epidemic among African Americans. The curriculum can be used by small groups to teach African Americans with and at risk for diabetes how to make healthy lifestyle changes, such as healthy food choices and physical activity to prevent and manage the disease.
Visit www.cdc.gov/diabetes/ndep/power_to_prevent.htm to download the publication or call 1-888-693-NDEP (6337) to order a free copy.

NDEP updated Get Real! You Don’t Have to Knock Yourself Out to Prevent Diabetes.  The publication offers simple tips to help Americans at-risk for developing type II diabetes move more and make healthier food choices. http://ndep.nih.gov/campaigns/
SmallSteps/getreal/index.htm

4 Pasos para controlar la diabetes de por vida is the recently released Spanish version of 4 Steps to Control Your Diabetes. For Life. brochure, which helps people living with diabetes understand vital self-care principles. http://ndep.nih.gov/diabetes/control/4Pasos.htm

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Physical Activity Levels among Children Ages 9-15
The Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development found that at ages 9 and 11, more than 90 percent of children get the recommended amount of 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day.  At age 15, only 31 percent met that same level during the weekday and only 17 percent got the recommended amount on weekends.  The study is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.  To read the full press release, visit www.nichd.nih.gov/news/releases
/july152008_physical_activity.cfm

Updated Information from NIHSenior Health
“Eating Well as You Get Older” is the latest resource on the NIHSenior Health Website.  “Eating Well as You Get Older” answers questions, such as “How should you eat as you get older?,” “Which foods are likely to keep you most healthy and which ones should you limit?,” “Is it possible to eat well and stay within a healthy weight?” Visit http://nihseniorhealth.gov/
eatingwellasyougetolder/toc.html

And elsewhere…
Department of Agriculture

Child Nutrition Programs Reauthorization
Listening sessions on the 2009 Reauthorization of the Child Nutrition (CN) Programs are being held across the country. Programs include: WIC, National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and Special Milk Program.
Participants can provide input or listen to concerns and suggestions from consumers.
    
Chicago, IL     Sept. 10, 2008  1 pm - 4 pm    
Denver, CO      Sept. 11, 2008  9 am - 1 pm    

For details on CN Reauthorization Listening Sessions, please visit http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/Sessions/default.htm
Please address inquiries to the appropriate state or regional office of the program for which you would like additional information:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/contacts.htm

New Resources
The Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) has recently updated several resource lists. 

• Food and Nutrition Fun 2008

• for Preschoolers  
• for Elementary Age Children  

• Cultural and Ethnic Food and Nutrition Education Materials: A Resource List for Educators 2008

These are available in PDF from FNIC’s website at the following URL: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/resource_lists.shtml

Department of the Interior
“Let’s Go Outside for Health” is a new initiative from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  The purpose is to connect people, especially children to nature.  The goal of the initiative is to have 25,000 health professionals working with land management professionals and community organizations by 2010 to connect people to nature for their health and for environmental stewardship.  More information about the initiative can be found at www.fws.gov/children/letsgohoutsideforhealth.html 

Department of Transportation (DOT)
DOT issued the Interim Report to the U.S. Congress on the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program SAFETEA-LU Section 1807.  The report highlights the efforts of four pilot cities to improve infrastructure in an effort to encourage more nonmotorized transportation among residents.  One of the evaluation metrics is to gauge the impact of the program on health via increased levels of physical activity.
To view more information about the program and to download a copy of the interim report, please visit www.smartmobility.us 

Healthy States Initiative
The Healthy States Initiative developed a new set of talking points for legislators on the topic of community wellness programs.  To view these and other health related talking points visit http://www.healthystates.csg.org/Publications/  

National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD)
Visit the NACDD’s funding opportunities page, which features a variety of announcements relating to various chronic disease areas including physical activity.  Visit www.chronicdisease.org/
i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3574

National Athletic Trainer’s Association (NATA)
NATA released a sports safety checklist for parents and coaches of young athletes participating in recreational or school sports programs.  Topics for consideration range from the financial requirement for participating safely in a sport to the development of an emergency action plan. The five page document can be downloaded at http://nata.org/youthsports/NATAcheklist9.pdf

School Nutrition Association
Well Done! School Nutrition Professionals Put Wellness Policies to Work contains stories and suggestions on implementing local school wellness policies.  The information is applicable to any school professional involved in the development or implementation of school wellness policies and includes stories on how school districts gained support among school staff, parents, and students; established nutrition education programs; and transformed school environments.  The booklet is $12 and can be ordered at www.schoolnutrition.org. 

Smart Growth Network
Local Governments and Schools: A Community-Oriented Approach provides strategies on how to bring together the planning efforts of local governments and schools in a way that meets multiple community goals.  Eight case studies detail the successful efforts to create community oriented schools. The publication is produced under a cooperative agreement between the
International City/County Management Association and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The free publication can be downloaded at http://icma.org/main/ld.asp?ldid=20370&hsid=1&tpid=8

Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport
The Tucker Center issued the report, Developing Physically Active Girls: An Evidence-based Multidisciplinary Approach. The report is an update to the 1997 study on the role of sports and physical activity in the lives of girls, which it issued in partnership with the PCPFS.  The report notes that recent research supports the health benefits of sports, but also shows that girls continue to face obstacles on sociological and psychological levels that may prevent their participation in sports and physical activities.
To download a copy of the report, please visit http://cehd.umn.edu/
tuckercenter/projects/TCRR/default.html

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH)
TFAH released Prevention for a Healthier America: Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger Communities.  The report finds that strategic investments in prevention efforts could yield a return of $5.60 for every $1.00 invested.  The report suggests that investments of $10 per person on proven community-based programs that increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and prevent smoking and other tobacco use could yield significant savings.  To read the report visit the TFAH Web site at www.healthyamericans.org.