Background: The worldwide rise in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases has increased the recognition of the need to identify modifiable risk factors for preventing and managing these diseases. The office worker, as a representative group of physically inactive workers, is exposed to risk factors for metabolic syndrome, which is a primary driver of noncommunicable diseases. The use of virtual reality (VR) exergames may offer a potential solution to the problem of increasing noncommunicable disease prevalence, as it can help individuals increase their physical activity levels while providing a more immersive experience.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Church leaders are important to the success of faith-based health promotion interventions through the role modeling of health behaviors. However, clergy may be at a higher risk of chronic disease than their congregants and their health is understudied. This study examined church leaders' health-related behaviors, differences in health behaviors by sociodemographic characteristics, and associations between health behaviors and church-level implementation of an ecological intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Structured Days Hypothesis posits that structure protects children against obesogenic behaviors (e.g., physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary intake) and, ultimately, prevents the occurrence of excessive weight gain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Childhood obesity is more prevalent in rural compared to urban communities and may be related to urban-rural differences in environmental factors known to affect obesity. However, understanding of how environmental factors impact childhood obesity in rural settings remains limited. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring the relationship between obesogenic environments and childhood overweight/obesity rates, including variations across the urban-rural continuum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Organizational adoption is a key but understudied step in translating evidence-based interventions into practice. The purpose of this study was to report recruitment strategies and factors associated with church enrollment and intervention adoption in a national implementation study of the Faith, Activity, and Nutrition (FAN) program.
Methods: We worked with partners using multiple strategies to disseminate intervention availability.