Redesigning urban parks for active living in dense urban areas: a remote audit approach.

The widespread use of virtual audits has transformed the assessment of urban design attributes by eliminating the necessity for on-site visits. However, there remains a lack of virtual audit tools specifically designed for evaluating urban parks in dense urban environments. This study aims to (1) adapt the Audit Tool for Activity-friendly Parks in Dense Urban Areas (TAPS) into a remote audit tool (R-TAPS), and (2) evaluate its reliability and validity.

Disparities in Pedestrian and Cyclist Crashes by Social Vulnerability Across South Carolina.

Background: Little crash equity research has controlled for active transportation rates, examined the Southeastern United States, or used composite sociodemographic metrics. This study analyzed disparities in pedestrian and cyclist crashes and crash severity according to level of social vulnerability (SV) across South Carolina.

Methods: Data about SV and its 4 dimensions (socioeconomic status, household composition and disability, minority status and language, and housing type and transportation) were compiled for all census tracts (N = 1103) within South Carolina.

The Relationship Between Park Access and Quality and Various Health Metrics in a Metropolitan Area in South Carolina Using the CDC Places Dataset.

Objective: Limited access to high-quality green spaces could contribute to growing rates of chronic diseases and unhealthy behaviors. Public parks provide numerous benefits for population well-being. However, past research has shown mixed results regarding the association between proximal parks and residents' physical and mental health.

The built environment and place attachment: Insights from Japanese cities.

Objective: Place attachment plays an important role in individuals' health and well-being. Understanding the associations between urban design attributes and place attachment can inform strategies to promote place attachment. This study aims to examine the associations between walkable built environment metrics and place attachment.

Shared Use to Promote Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in Rural South Carolina United Methodist Churches: Opportunities and Pastor Beliefs.

Access to facilities that could promote physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) is limited in rural areas. Shared use agreements with churches may be a promising strategy for enhancing rural community access to facilities. The goals of this qualitative study were to (a) examine rural pastors' views on the role of faith-based organizations in improving PA and HE in rural communities; (b) describe the availability of church facilities that could be used for PA and HE; (c) understand pastors' opinions on shared use of church facilities for community health promotion.

At-Home Immersive Virtual Reality Exergames to Reduce Cardiometabolic Risk Among Office Workers: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

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.

Church Leaders' Health Behaviors and Program Implementation in the Faith, Activity, and Nutrition Program.

Objectives: 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.

Rationale and design of Healthy Kids Beyond the Bell: a 2x2 full factorial study evaluating the impact of summer and after-school programming on children's body mass index and health behaviors.

Background: 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.

Association between obesogenic environments and childhood overweight/obesity across the United States: Differences by rurality.

Purpose: 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.

Constructs from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research associated with church enrollment and intervention adoption in a national implementation study of a faith-based organizational change intervention.

Background: 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.

Differences in elementary-age children's accelerometer - measured physical activity between school and summer: three-year findings from the What's UP (Undermining Prevention) with summer observational cohort study.

Background: Among elementary-aged children (5-12yrs), summer vacation is associated with accelerated gains in Body Mass Index (BMI). A key behavioral driver of BMI gain is a lack of physical activity (PA). Previous studies indicate PA decreases during summer, compared to the school year but whether this difference is consistent among boys and girls, across age, and by income status remains unclear.

Disparities in Obesogenic Environments by Income, Race/Ethnicity, and Rurality Across All US Counties.

Research is needed to explore inequities in physical activity (PA) and access to healthy eating resources for children on a national scale. This study examined disparities in childhood obesogenic environments across all United States (US) counties by income and race/ethnicity and their interaction with county rurality. Data for four PA variables (exercise opportunities, school proximity, walkability, crime) and six nutrition variables (grocery stores, farmers markets, fast-food restaurants, full-service restaurants, convenience stores, and births at baby-friendly hospitals) were collected for all US counties ( = 3142) to comprise the Childhood Obesogenic Environment Index (COEI).

Identifying multilevel predictors of behavioral outcomes like park use: A comparison of conditional and marginal modeling approaches.

This study compared marginal and conditional modeling approaches for identifying individual, park and neighborhood park use predictors. Data were derived from the ParkIndex study, which occurred in 128 block groups in Brooklyn (New York), Seattle (Washington), Raleigh (North Carolina), and Greenville (South Carolina). Survey respondents (n = 320) indicated parks within one half-mile of their block group used within the past month.

Building on muscles: how built environment design impacts modern sports science.

Sports science focuses on enhancing athletes' performance, requiring a multifaceted approach. It is evolving from a purely muscle-centred approach to an interdisciplinary one. This paper investigates built environment design science, a dimension less explored in relation to enhancing athlete performance in sports science.

Unearthing Inequities in the Relationship between Multiple Sociodemographic Factors and Diverse Elements of Park Availability and Quality in a Major Southern Metropolitan Region.

Parks are critical components of healthy communities. This study explored neighborhood socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequalities in park access and quality in a large U.S.

Neighborhood park access and park characteristics are associated with weight status in youth.

This study investigated park access and park quality in the context of childhood obesity. Participants were 20,638 children ages 6-17y from a large primary care health system. Analyses tested associations of park access and park characteristics with children's weight status, and sociodemographic interactions.

Association of composite park quality with park use in four diverse cities.

Park use has numerous health benefits. However, little research has investigated how the combination of park facilities, amenities, and conditions are related to park visitation. This study examined the association between a novel composite park quality metric and the use of specific parks, including variations by demographics.

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status, Green Space, and Walkability and Risk for Falls Among Postmenopausal Women: The Women's Health Initiative.

Purpose: This study estimated associations between neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES), walkability, green space, and incident falls among postmenopausal women and evaluated modifiers of these associations, including study arm, race and ethnicity, baseline household income, baseline walking, age at enrollment, baseline low physical functioning, baseline fall history, climate region, and urban-rural residence.

Methods: The Women's Health Initiative recruited a national sample of postmenopausal women (50-79 years) across 40 U.S.

A process for converting an in-person training to increase church capacity to implement physical activity and healthy eating practices and policies to an online format.

The implementation of evidence-based public health programs into practice is critical for improving health, but trainings for organizational change agents are often not scalable. To describe the process of converting a training that targets faith-based organizational capacity development from an in-person to an online format. We engaged in an iterative process to convert the training delivery mode from in-person to online that included assessing stakeholder support, consulting the literature on best practices, seeking a design team, consolidating content, designing engaging lessons, and building an online site.

Developing criteria for research translation decision-making in community settings: a systematic review and thematic analysis informed by the Knowledge to Action Framework and community input.

Background: There is a pressing need to translate empirically supported interventions, products, and policies into practice to prevent and control prevalent chronic diseases. According to the Knowledge to Action (K2A) Framework, only those interventions deemed "ready" for translation are likely to be disseminated, adopted, implemented, and ultimately institutionalized. Yet, this pivotal step has not received adequate study.

Urban-rural disparities in childhood obesogenic environments in the United States: Application of differing rural definitions.

Background: Research is needed that identifies environmental resource disparities and applies multiple rural definitions. Therefore, this study aims to examine urban-rural differences in food and physical activity (PA) environment resource availability by applying several commonly used rural definitions. We also examine differences in resource availability within urban-rural categories that are typically aggregated.

Associations of public open space attributes with active and sedentary behaviors in dense urban areas: A systematic review of observational studies.

In the context of rapid urbanization, public open spaces in dense urban areas are critical built environment elements to support active lifestyles. Several reviews have explored the associations of public open space attributes with physically active and sedentary behavior. However, few reviews have included studies from Asia, and no studies have focused on dense urban areas.

Development and validation of self-efficacy and intention measures for spending time in nature.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the reliability and validity of self-efficacy and intentions measures for time spent in nature (TSN). TSN is related to improvement in psychological well-being and health, yet most American adults spend very little time in such settings. Theory-based interventions have been effective in increasing physical activity, a related behavior, and may be one mechanism to increase TSN.