Associations of physical activity, sedentary time, and insulin with percent breast density in Hispanic women.

Background: In a previous study of Hispanic women, we reported a positive association between sedentary time and percent breast density, a marker of breast cancer risk. It is unclear whether associations between sedentary time or physical activity and percent breast density are mediated through serum insulin levels or insulin resistance, factors also associated with physical activity and breast cancer risk.

Methods: In the Chicago Breast Health Project phase II pilot study, detailed information on health and lifestyle factors, including sitting time and total physical activity over the previous 7 days, was collected from 95 Hispanic women aged 40-77 years.

Validation of a historical physical activity questionnaire in middle-aged women.

Background: Historical physical activity (PA) questionnaires assess relationships between past PA and chronic diseases. The 4-Corner's Historical Physical Activity Questionnaire (HPAQ) was validated in 78 middle-age women.

Methods: In 1996 and 1998, women kept PA records (PAR) for four consecutive days while wearing Caltrac accelerometers.

Reliability and validity of the instrument used in BRFSS to assess physical activity.

Introduction: State-level statistics of adherence to the physical activity objectives in Healthy People 2010 are derived from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. BRFSS physical activity questions were updated in 2001 to include domains of leisure time, household, and transportation-related activity of moderate- and vigorous intensity, and walking questions. This article reports the reliability and validity of these questions.

Physical activity influences in a disadvantaged African American community and the communities' proposed solutions.

The purpose of this assessment is to increase our understanding of how safety and environmental factors influence physical activity among African American residents living in a low-income, high-crime neighborhood and to get input from these residents about how to best design physical activity interventions for their neighborhood. Twenty-seven African American adult residents of a low-income, high-crime neighborhood in a suburban southeastern community participated in three focus groups. Participants were asked questions about perceptions of what would help them, their families, and their neighbors be more physically active.

Perspectives of public health and leisure studies on determinants of physically active leisure.

Public health has historically been concerned with eliminating factors associated with disease, disability, and early mortality, whereas leisure studies has emerged from the need to create and manage recreational opportunities and promote leisure activities and experiences. Coincidently, both fields have progressed toward an appreciation of the role of active leisure in enhancing a population's health and well-being. Factors associated with making choices to be physically active in leisure time are complex and multidimensional.

The role of park proximity and social support in shaping park visitation, physical activity, and perceived health among older adults.

Background: Health scholars purport that park proximity and social support promotes physical activity and health. However, few studies examine the combined contributions of these constructs in shaping physical activity and health.

Purpose: In this study, the contributions of environmental and social characteristics in shaping park use, physical activity, and health are examined.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine for weight control in the United States.

Objectives: The purpose was to assess the prevalence and correlates of complementary and alternative medicine use for weight control.

Design: A list-assisted random-digit-dialed telephone survey of adults was conducted in the fall of 2002 (n = 11,211). The focus of the study was complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use, other than dietary supplements, in the previous 12 months.

Use of nonprescription dietary supplements for weight loss is common among Americans.

Objective: Dietary supplements are not recommended as part of a weight-loss program due to concerns about efficacy and safety. This study sought to assess prevalence and duration of nonprescription weight-loss supplement use, associated weight-control behaviors, discussion of use with a health care professional, and specific ingredient use.

Participants And Design: Adults aged > or =18 years (n=9,403) completed a cross-sectional population-based telephone survey of health behaviors from September 2002 through December 2002.

Discrepancies between methods of identifying objectively determined physical activity.

Unlabelled: Current methods for validating physical activity (PA) questionnaires typically use accelerometers as objective measures for comparison with questionnaire responses and obtain low correlations or agreement.

Purpose: We examined possible reasons for weak associations in validation studies by comparing published ActiGraph accelerometer intensity cut points with cut points based on intensity thresholds for heart rate response to PA.

Methods: Twelve adults (five men, seven women; age 31.

Race/ethnicity, social class, and leisure-time physical inactivity.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to determine 1) prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity in a nationally representative sample of non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic men and women; 2) prevalence of leisure-time inactivity by racial/ethnic group across social class indicators; and 3) the relationship between leisure-time inactivity and occupational physical activity, independent of other social class indicators.

Methods: The National Physical Activity and Weight Loss Survey was a telephone survey of noninstitutionalized U.S.

Small bowel hemangioma diagnosed with laparoscopy: Report of two pediatric cases.

Hemangiomas of the small bowel are rare tumors that often present with gastrointestinal bleeding. Diagnosis can be difficult and exploratory laparotomy has often proved to be the only method with which to determine the presence and location of these tumors. We report two cases of small bowel hemangioma in children aged 10 and 7 years, in which the diagnosis was made by laparoscopy.

Cross-sectional comparison of physical activity and inactivity patterns in Chinese and Filipino youth.

Background: To compare and contrast youth physical activity (PA) and inactivity patterns in two developing Asian countries: the Philippines and China.

Methods: Comparative analysis of 1997-1999 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey and the 1997 China Health and Nutrition Survey, large-scale surveys that included questions on type, frequency and duration of: commuting mode to school, sports/exercise in and outside of school, select sedentary activities and chores.

Results: Filipino data included 760 males and 872 females aged 14-16 years.

Availability of weight-loss supplements: Results of an audit of retail outlets in a southeastern city.

The sale of nonprescription weight-loss products accounts for millions of dollars spent by Americans trying to lose weight, yet there is little evidence for effectiveness and there are multiple safety concerns. The purpose of this study was to determine what products, and ingredients within products, were available at retail outlets in a metropolitan area. A purposive sampling strategy identified 73 retail outlets.

Is participation in occupational physical activity associated with lifestyle physical activity levels?

Objective: Little is known about the prevalence of lifestyle physical activity (PA) by occupational PA (mostly sitting, walking, or heavy labor).

Methods: Descriptive and adjusted multivariable logistic regression analysis of lifestyle PA (regularly active, irregularly active, inactive) and occupational activity was used (N = 6,360).

Results: The prevalence of regular lifestyle activity was 45.

Comparison of the 2001 BRFSS and the IPAQ Physical Activity Questionnaires.

Purpose: The 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) physical activity module and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) are used in population studies to determine the prevalence of physical activity. The comparability of the prevalence estimates has not been compared in U.S.

Use of low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets among americans: correlates, duration, and weight loss.

Context: Although low-carbohydrate, high-protein (LCHP) diets reemerged as popular diets, there are scant data on patterns of use in the general US population.

Objective: We examined the prevalence of reported LCHP diet use (eg, Sugar Busters, The Zone, The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet, The Atkins Diet), associated weight control behaviors, diet duration, and amount of weight loss while on the diet.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional survey.

Development and reproducibility of the bone loading history questionnaire.

Purpose: To develop an historical bone loading questionnaire that assesses loads applied to the skeleton using bone loading units and to determine its reproducibility. Additional purposes were to correlate bone loading units with areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and to determine whether low levels of bone loading increase the odds for low aBMD in healthy premenopausal women.

Methods: Premenopausal women (N=80; age: 31+/-7.

Health-related quality of life, BMI and physical activity among US adults (>/=18 years): National Physical Activity and Weight Loss Survey, 2002.

Objective: To examine the association between health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and physical activity (PA).

Methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained via a national telephone survey from 9173 respondents (30.9% response rate; 51.

Perceptions of Neighborhood Sidewalks on Walking and Physical Activity Patterns in a Southeastern Community in the US.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceptions of neighborhood sidewalks and race, and walking and physical activity (PA) patterns in a southeastern US community.

Methods: A telephone survey was administered to a stratified sample of adults (N = 1148). Physical activity was categorized according to the CDC/ACSM recommendations.

Reliability and validity of the occupational physical activity questionnaire.

Introduction: Few questionnaires have been designed for wide-scale, population-based surveillance of occupational physical activity (PA) behaviors.

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the test-retest reliability and validity of the Occupational Physical Activity Questionnaire (OPAQ) designed to assess the usual weekly duration of occupational sitting or standing, walking, and heavy labor activities.

Methods: Analyses were based on a convenience sample of 41 adults (13 men, 28 women) (mean+/- SD, 38.

Physical activity assessment methods in the Jackson Heart Study.

Objectives: Physical activity measures used in exam 1 of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), including the diet and physical activity substudy (DPASS), are described.

Design: The JHS physical activity (PAC) survey instrument was administered by interview. Accelerometer data, pedometer step counts, and additional questionnaire data were collected from volunteer subsamples of the cohort, including the DPASS.

Perceptions of environmental supports for physical activity in African American and white adults in a rural county in South Carolina.

Introduction: This study examined the association between perceptions of social and safety-related environmental attributes and physical activity (PA) and walking in African American and white adults.

Methods: In a random-digit-dial telephone survey, 1165 adults in a rural county in South Carolina answered questions about their perceptions of social and safety-related environmental supports for PA and their overall PA and walking behavior. Social perceptions included whether neighbors could be trusted or were perceived to be physically active.

Health and physical activity research as represented in RQES.

In the past 75 years, articles in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (RQES) have contributed to the understanding of the role physical activity plays in the health of individuals and populations. Articles have described laboratory and community research studies in humans and animals, presented reviews of topics and conference proceedings, and presented forums for discussion about current topics in physical activity and health. The articles reflect the growth of the profession from basic inquiry, about physiological responses to exercise (and the development of physical fitness methods and standards), to studies of the effects of exercise on physical fitness and health in various population subgroups.

Correlates of self-efficacy for physical activity in African American women.

This study examined the correlates of self-efficacy for physical activity in African American women. In bivariate analyses, self-efficacy was higher among women reporting fewer social role constraints, more positive perceptions of physically active women, more positive sense of community, better perceived health, and higher levels of physical activity. In a simultaneous multivariate model, more positive perceived health status (p = .