Strategic Priorities for Physical Activity Surveillance in the United States.

Purpose: Develop strategic priorities to guide future physical activity surveillance in the United States.

Methods: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine convened a scientific roundtable of physical activity and measurement experts. Participants summarized the current state of aerobic physical activity surveillance for adults, focusing on practice and research needs in three areas: 1) behavior, 2) human movement, and 3) community supports.

Revisiting the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Cancer Registry and Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (SEER-MHOS) Linked Data Resource for Patient-Reported Outcomes Research in Older Adults with Cancer.

Researchers and clinicians are increasingly recognizing the value of patient-reported outcome (PRO) data to better characterize people's health and experiences with illness and care. Considering the rising prevalence of cancer in adults aged 65 and older, PRO data are particularly relevant for older adults with cancer, who often require complex cancer care and have additional comorbid conditions. A data linkage between the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registry and the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (MHOS) was created through a partnership between the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that created the opportunity to examine PROs in Medicare Advantage enrollees with and without cancer.

Obesity in children with developmental and/or physical disabilities.

Children with developmental or physical disabilities, many of whom face serious health-related conditions, also are affected by the current obesity crisis. Although evidence indicates that children with disabilities have a higher prevalence of obesity than do children without disabilities, little is known of the actual magnitude of the problem in this population. To address this concern, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) held a conference on obesity in children with intellectual, developmental, or physical disabilities, bringing together scientists and practitioners in the fields of obesity and disability to foster collaboration, identify barriers to healthy weight status in populations with disabilities, propose avenues to solutions through research and practice, and develop a research agenda to address the problem.

Integrating tobacco cessation quitlines into health care: Massachusetts, 2002-2011.

QuitWorks is a Massachusetts referral program that links health care organizations, providers, and patients to the state's tobacco cessation quitline and provides feedback reporting. Designed collaboratively with all major Massachusetts health plans, QuitWorks was launched in April 2002. In 2010, approximately 340 institutions and practices used QuitWorks.

Communicating healthy eating: lessons learned and future directions.

Achieving and maintaining wide-scale positive dietary change is a complex and formidable endeavor, given the current food environment. Moreover, for positive change to occur, nutrition messages should be communicated in a scientifically precise, yet practical and motivating manner. This challenge was the impetus for the organization of a 2-day workshop hosted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Division of Nutrition Research Coordination (DNRC), both of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

What can communication science tell us about promoting optimal dietary behavior?

Four of the 10 leading causes of death can be attributed to poor dietary behaviors. Nutrition professionals continue to struggle with the most effective ways to deliver nutrition messages that will result in changes in dietary behavior. On July 14-15, 2005, the National Cancer Institute and the Division of Nutrition Research Coordination, both of the National Institutes of Health, hosted a meeting to explore the state of the science concerning this issue.

Accelerometer use in physical activity: best practices and research recommendations.

Researchers are increasingly interested in the potential of accelerometers to improve our ability to measure and understand the health impacts of physical activity. Although accelerometers have been available commercially for more than 25 yr, broad consensus about how to use these tools has not been established. At a scientific conference in December 2004, a number of scientists were invited to present papers, serve as reactors or moderators to papers, present posters of original research, or serve as members of an audience knowledgeable about the use of accelerometers.