Advancing Health Equity in Community-Based Climate Action: From Concept to Practice.

Despite broad agreement that prioritizing health equity is critical to minimizing the health impacts of climate change, there is a lack of clarity about what advancing health equity means in practice. More than reducing health disparities; it also implies engaging and empowering marginalized communities. We propose a typology of health equity processes, focused on building community agency and power, and then apply it to a nonrepresentative, purposive sample of 48 community-based climate actions (CBCAs) selected from lists of projects funded by foundations and state climate programs and from other sources.

Strategies for Effective Collaboration with Middle School Physical Education Teachers: An Application of School-Engaged Research.

Background: Increasing the capacity of teachers to deliver physical education (PE) lessons that are high in moderate to vigorous physical activity (PA) is one strategy to increase the amount of exercise students receive during school. However, traditional research approaches have not directly engaged the school community as equitable partners in the intervention design process. The purpose of this article is to describe the process, outputs, and lessons learned from a school-engaged research study, which incorporates the unique needs of schools-in terms of structure, accountability measures, and array of stakeholders into the research process and design.

Evaluation of an Intervention to Increase Physical Activity in Low-Income, Urban Middle Schools.

Background: Physical education (PE) can provide opportunities to engage in daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), but MVPA levels in many classes are low. This study examines MVPA during middle school PE lessons before and after receiving the SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids) program.

Methods: Sixteen schools were enrolled in the study.

Making Strides Toward Health Equity: The Experiences of Public Health Departments.

Objectives: We explored the definition of health equity being used by public health departments and the extent of engagement of public health departments in activities to improve health equity, as well as facilitators and barriers to this work.

Design: We conducted 25 semistructured qualitative interviews with lead public health officials (n = 20) and their designees (n = 5). All interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed.

Health Challenges and Assets of Forest-Dependent Populations in Cameroon.

Indigenous populations often have poorer health outcomes than the general population. Marginalization, colonization, and migration from traditional lands have all affected traditional medicine usage, health access, and indigenous health equity. An in-depth understanding of health for specific populations is essential to develop actionable insights into contributing factors to poor indigenous health.

Health Impact Assessment of Transportation Projects and Policies: Living Up to Aims of Advancing Population Health and Health Equity?

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a forward-looking, evidence-based tool used to inform stakeholders and policy makers about the potential health effects of proposed projects and policies and to identify options for maximizing potential health benefits and minimizing potential harm. This review examines how health equity, a core principle of health impact assessment (HIA), has been operationalized in HIAs conducted in the United States in one sector, transportation. Two perspectives on promoting health equity appear in the broader public health research literature; one aims at reducing disparities in health determinants and outcomes in affected populations, whereas the other focuses on facilitating community participation and self-determination.

Physical Activity Correlates in Middle School Adolescents: Perceived Benefits and Barriers and Their Determinants.

The purpose of this study was to examine the determinants of benefits and barriers and their relationship with physical activity (PA) among predominantly Latino middle school students. Data were collected in a cross-sectional survey of 4,773 seventh-grade students recruited from a large, urban school district in Los Angeles. Hierarchical logistic regression models were used to assess determinants of benefits and barriers as well as their association with self-reported PA.

Correlates of Social Support and its Association With Physical Activity Among Young Adolescents.

Background: A substantial proportion of adolescents, particularly girls and minority youth, fail to meet daily physical activity (PA) recommendations. Social support contributes to adolescent PA, but studies examining this relationship have yielded inconsistent results and rarely focus on diverse, urban populations.

Aims: This study examines the correlates of support for PA from family and friends and its relationship with PA outcomes among young adolescents.

Consistency of Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity in Middle School Physical Education.

This study assessed the consistency of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a sample of middle school physical education lessons. Random intercept hierarchical linear regressions were employed to model the relationship between consistency of MVPA and independent variables, including lesson and teacher characteristics. Larger classes spent significantly more time in consistent MVPA in the absence of controlling for teacher characteristics.

Impacts of Urban Water Conservation Strategies on Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Health: Southern California as a Case Study.

Objectives: To determine how urban water conservation strategies in California cities can affect water and energy conservation efforts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit public health.

Methods: We expanded upon our 2014 health impact assessment of California's urban water conservation strategies by comparing the status quo to 2 options with the greatest potential impact on the interrelated issues of water and energy in California: (1) banning landscape irrigation and (2) expanding alternative water sources (e.g.

Physical education and student activity: evaluating implementation of a new policy in Los Angeles public schools.

Background: California law has standards for physical education (PE) instruction in K-12 public schools; audits found that the Los Angeles Unified School District did not enforce the standards. In 2009, the district adopted a PE policy to comply with these standards.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of the PE policy in district schools.

Implementing organizational physical activity and healthy eating strategies on paid time: process evaluation of the UCLA WORKING pilot study.

Integrating organizationally targeted wellness strategies into the routine conduct of business has shown promise in engaging captive audiences at highest risk of obesity and obesity-related health consequences. This paper presents a process evaluation of the implementation of the University of California, Los Angeles, Working Out Regularly Keeps Individuals Nurtured and Going (WORKING) pilot study. WORKING focuses on integrating physical activity and nutrition practices into workplace routine during non-discretionary paid work time.

A graphical, computer-based decision-support tool to help decision makers evaluate policy options relating to physical activity.

This pilot study builds on efforts to develop evaluation methods to compare and contrast potential strategies designed to increase population physical activity generally, and to reduce disparities in activity levels more specifically. The study presents a user-friendly, semi-quantitative decision-support tool of intermediate complexity that may better enable quick, flexible first-pass "ballpark" decision making by state and local health agencies instead of traditional evidence-based scientific reviews. The tool produces a summary score from ratings on 18 criteria, adjusted by fixed or variable weights to incorporate salient community contextual factors.

Clustering of unhealthy outdoor advertisements around child-serving institutions: a comparison of three cities.

Using GPS devices and digital cameras, we surveyed outdoor advertisements in Austin, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. GIS and hot spot analysis revealed that unhealthy ads were clustered around child-serving institutions in Los Angeles and Philadelphia but not in Austin. Multivariate generalized least square (GLS) regression models showed that percent black (p<0.

A cross-sectional prevalence study of ethnically targeted and general audience outdoor obesity-related advertising.

Context: Commercial marketing is a critical but understudied element of the sociocultural environment influencing Americans' food and beverage preferences and purchases. This marketing also likely influences the utilization of goods and services related to physical activity and sedentary behavior. A growing literature documents the targeting of racial/ethnic and income groups in commercial advertisements in magazines, on billboards, and on television that may contribute to sociodemographic disparities in obesity and chronic disease risk and protective behaviors.

Use of health impact assessment in the U.S.: 27 case studies, 1999-2007.

Objectives: To document the growing use in the United States of health impact assessment (HIA) methods to help planners and others consider the health consequences of their decisions.

Methods: Using multiple search strategies, 27 HIAs were identified that were completed in the U.S.

Health impact assessment: a tool to help policy makers understand health beyond health care.

Health impact assessment (HIA)--a combination of methods to examine formally the potential health effects of a proposed policy, program, or project--has received considerable interest over the past decade internationally as a practical mechanism for collaborating with other sectors to address the environmental determinants of health and to achieve more effectively the goals of population health promotion. Demand for HIA in the United States seems to be growing. This review outlines the common principles and methodologies of HIA and compares different approaches to HIA.

Growing the field of health impact assessment in the United States: an agenda for research and practice.

Health impact assessment (HIA) methods are used to evaluate the impact on health of policies and projects in community design, transportation planning, and other areas outside traditional public health concerns. At an October 2004 workshop, domestic and international experts explored issues associated with advancing the use of HIA methods by local health departments, planning commissions, and other decisionmakers in the United States. Workshop participants recommended conducting pilot tests of existing HIA tools, developing a database of health impacts of common projects and policies, developing resources for HIA use, building workforce capacity to conduct HIAs, and evaluating HIAs.

Projected health impact of the Los Angeles City living wage ordinance.

Study Objective: To estimate the relative health effects of the income and health insurance provisions of the Los Angeles City living wage ordinance.

Setting And Participants: About 10 000 employees of city contractors are subject to the Los Angeles City living wage ordinance, which establishes an annually adjusted minimum wage (7.99 US dollars per hour in July 2002) and requires employers to contribute 1.

Methodologies for realizing the potential of health impact assessment.

Health impact assessment (HIA), a systematic assessment of potential health impacts of proposed public polices, programs, and projects, offers a means to advance population health by bringing public health research to bear on questions of public policy. The United States has been slow to adopt HIA, but considerable strides have been made in many other countries, and under the auspices of the World Health Organization and World Bank. Varied applications in these diverse milieu have given rise to diverse approaches to HIA-quantitative/analytic, participatory, and procedural-each with distinct disciplinary foundations, goals, and methodologies.

Prospects for health impact assessment in the United States: new and improved environmental impact assessment or something different?

Health impact assessment (HIA) has been advanced as a means of bringing potential health impacts to the attention of policy makers, particularly in sectors where health impacts may not otherwise be considered. This article examines lessons for HIA in the United States from the related and relatively well-developed field of environmental impact assessment (EIA). We reviewed the EIA literature and conducted twenty phone interviews with EIA professionals.