CDC Features

CDC Features

CDC/WHO Collaborating Center: Promoting Physical Activity across the Globe

The CDC/WHO Collaborating Center promotes projects in Latin America that help increase countries' ability to develop national physical activity plans and introduce creative and effective ways to promote physical activity.

In July 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) formed a Collaborating Center whose mission is to promote physical activity, prevent disease, and enhance health and quality of life throughout the world. The Collaborating Center conducts physical activity research with worldwide partners, provides technical consultations, builds networks, and sponsors annual workshops and public health courses tailored to the public health practitioner's needs.

Photo: A woman streching One of the Collaborating Center's most significant projects is a 4-day international training course that provides advanced education for health professionals to develop national, state, and regional efforts to promote and increase physical activity programs and research. The first course was held in Brazil in July 2004. Since that time, 11 courses have been held across Africa, the Americas, and Asia. More than 700 health professionals with backgrounds in medicine, physical education, nutrition, nursing, and public health from 40 countries have been trained in the courses. This is a significant step toward increasing countries' ability to develop national physical activity plans and introduce creative and effective ways to promote physical activity.

Additionally, the Collaborating Center hosts workshops that bring together experts from around the world to discuss both practical and technical topics including measuring physical activity, the effects of globalization and urbanization on physical activity, and evaluating community programs. Public health professionals and other experts from fields such as transportation, community planning, and education participate in the workshops, which are usually held annually. The Physical Activity Evaluation Handbook documents the 6-step evaluation strategy that was developed for one of these workshops. The Handbook is also available in Spanish and Portuguese; for more information contact CDC-INFO (email or call 1-800-232-4636).

The Collaborating Center is also partnering with the Pan American Health Organization to study cultural events that may improve health and quality of life in urban communities. Some of these events could hold promise for use not only in Latin American countries, but in other parts of the world as well.

Photo: People riding bikes Bogota, Colombia, is the birthplace of the Ciclovia concept, a cultural event started in the early 1970s to promote physical activity. Every Sunday and holiday from 7 am to 2 pm, 74 miles of highway close for residents to take part in the city tradition as the community comes together to practice and promote physical activity. Bicyclists, runners, walkers, and skaters dominate the roadways, aerobics classes convene at 19 different city locations, and stages are set up in city parks to offer instruction and music. During the past 15 years, Bogota's city leaders have promoted policies that support community changes such as Ciclovias as a way to enhance civic engagement, encourage physical activity, and improve quality of life.

For more information about the CDC/WHO Collaborating Center, training courses, and events such as Ciclovias, visit the Rafa-Pana . For more information on physical activity, visit CDC's Divison of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.