TAKE A LOOK…

The emphasis on the built environment in public health is hard to escape.  Conferences, podcasts, webinars.......you name it......there is a discussion concerning getting people to walk more frequently in their daily lives.  The task for public health practitioners is to bring evidence to discussions in order to inform decision makers on parks, transportation, and planning boards to consider public health goals in their deliberations. 

If asked, anyone working on community health…

Lexington, KY was a named the nation's least active city.  I took  a look at the list of most active cities and Boulder, my hometown, was not listed.  So I am not sure just how reliable the list is. 

This did not stop the mayor of Lexington from embracing the new designation by riding (sitting) on a couch coverted into a low-end & low tech float that led the city's first…

The August 26, 2011 issue of The Lancet is dedicated to the global obesity epidemic. The issue was timed to coincide with the upcoming United Nations high-level  meeting concerning non-communicable diseases. The first high profile global meeting dedicated to obesity was sponsored by the…

I recall reading a post on this network about Walkonomics.  The post said that real estate companies were starting to use a neighborhood's walking attributes as part of the sales pitch.  From the website it seems, the idea is catching on. It seems the original group secured funding for a fairly sophisticated website.  Does anyone recall reading that post about a year plus ago?

 From website "About' page

Walkonomics aims to rate the pedestrian-friendliness…

The health reform prevention and public health fund may disappear from the federal budget at a time when evidence shows population health improvement is moving in the wrong direction.  The link is to an LA Times article that is not good news.

"The…

In the year that I have been working on planning guidelines for healthier/walkable communities, I've heard very few elected officials speak of the concept in positive terms.  Remember how someone in Congress called community design interventions to help people become healthier  jungle gym programs.  When you travel to other countries, you can be very disappointed about how poorly our elected officials compare to those in Europe.  It seems American elected officials take pride in knowing as…

I don't know if you are going to APHA 2010 in Denver, but if you aren't here is a good sampling of obesity interventions ranging from GPS to school nutrition standards. Of course, you could make your way through the 288+ presentations/posters/roundtables/panels regarding obesity on the APHA annual meeting website.

You will only be able to access abstracts if you do not have a subscription to the journal.…

Summer is over and it is back to teaching another batch of students. This year we are piloting a nursing assistant program with the hope of filling the pipeline with students of color who can take advantage of health reform workforce programs or funds. Vacationing in Greece (go visit...they need our money) was a good decision, and the lecture at the nursing college was well-received. A special "shout out" to Tamar Knox who I connected with on this network for tips that came in handy in the Q…

My husband is a civil engineer so his professional organization keeps up with infrastructure legislation/projects. Walking/biking trails are not big ticket items for these firms, but he did send me an email concerning a bill in Congress introduced by a congressman from Oregon.

Apparently, the bill would provide funds for more walking, biking, hiking/running trails in cities and towns. So here is the link to the campaign.…

The Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC) issued an excellent report that is being used as a key advocacy document for U.S. Representative Ed Blumenaur's (OR) bill to build more federal funds to foster pedestrian/cyclist friendly projects in the nation''s communities.

http://www.railstotrails.org/ourWork/advocacy/activeTransportation/makingTheCase/index.html

The Surface Transportation Policy Partnership hosted two webinars for newcomers to transportation policy. With the tranportation bill finally making its way through the Senate's process, it may be time to get up to speed on a few transportation policy basics and history. There are two webinars available on line and a useful web page that sumarized tranportation policy highlights since the Eisenhower administration:

From the Margins to the Mainstream webinar series.…

Today Senator Barbara Boxer, the environment committee chairperson, announced that her committee will begin work on the transportation bill, using the House version as a template. According to DC.Streetblog.org: "Boxer described today's hearing in her panel as "the kickoff" of the upper chamber's drafting of new legislation governing U.S. road, transit, bridge, port, and rail policy........But lawmakers and industry lobbies have a long way to go before they can sing from the same hymnal on…

I found the report Measuring the Effects of Sprawl very helpful in understanding evidence of the impact of land use decisions on obesity and physical activity. As a planner I needed to understand the evidence that is the foundation for health communities. Although the report was released nearly seven years ago, it was the first national study on the subject.

Excerpt from press realease…

Activities to document our food environment are gaining momentum. The USDA released a web-based tool that provides several food & physical activity indicators for all counties in the nation.

The Atlas assembles statistics on three broad categories of food environment factors:

• Food Choices—Indicators of the community's access to and acquisition of healthy, affordable food, such as: access and proximity to a grocery store; number of foodstores and…

The American Planning Association is taking the lead in making community health a central principle in municipalities across the country. APA launched the Planning and Community Health Research Center.

According to its web page:

"The Center is dedicated to integrating community health issues into local and regional planning practices by advancing a program of research, outreach, education, and policy. By working closely with policy makers, public health professionals,…