Physical Activity and the Health of a Nation: A National Challenge and Collective Response.

Historic recruitment and retention challenges confront the U.S. military.

BMI and Physical Activity, Military-Aged U.S. Population 2015-2020.

Introduction: Obesity and physical inactivity are considered possible U.S. national security threats because of their impact on military recruitment.

Comprehensive Physical Activity Assessment During U.S. Army Basic Combat Training.

Alemany, JA, Pierce, JR, Bornstein, DB, Grier, TL, Jones, BH, and Glover, SH. Comprehensive physical activity assessment during U.S.

Physical Activity Communication: A Scoping Review of the Literature.

Engaging in regular physical activity can help prevent chronic disease and enhance quality of life. Unfortunately, less than 20% of American adults meet the recommended physical activity guidelines, perhaps indicating ineffective communication efforts around physical activity. In preparation for the release of the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, and using the physical activity guidelines as a cornerstone of our approach, we conducted a scoping review of physical activity communication research to understand the scholarly efforts related to communicating about physical activity.

Which US States Pose the Greatest Threats to Military Readiness and Public Health? Public Health Policy Implications for a Cross-sectional Investigation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Body Mass Index, and Injuries Among US Army Recruits.

Objective: Many states in the southern region of the United States are recognized for higher rates of obesity, physical inactivity, and chronic disease. These states are therefore recognized for their disproportionate public health burden. The purpose of this study was to investigate state-level distributions of cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass index (BMI), and injuries among US Army recruits in order to determine whether or not certain states may also pose disproportionate threats to military readiness and national security.

Application of the Rosetta Stone to understand how much MVPA preschoolers accumulate: A systematic review.

Objectives: This study illustrates the utility of the Rosetta Stone equations for comparing estimates of preschool-age children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) across studies utilizing different cutpoints.

Design: Systematic review.

Methods: A search of online databases was conducted to identify studies that reported daily minutes of MVPA in preschoolers using the cutpoints from which Rosetta Stone equations have been developed.

Equating accelerometer estimates among youth: The Rosetta Stone 2.

Objectives: Different accelerometer cutpoints used by different researchers often yields vastly different estimates of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA). This is recognized as cutpoint non-equivalence (CNE), which reduces the ability to accurately compare youth MVPA across studies. The objective of this research is to develop a cutpoint conversion system that standardizes minutes of MVPA for six different sets of published cutpoints.

New Perspective on Factors Related to Coalition Success: Novel Findings From an Investigation of Physical Activity Coalitions Across the United States.

Context: Physical activity (PA) coalitions are a fundamental component of efforts to increase population levels of PA in the United States. Coalitions are often composed of organizational members including government agencies, for-profit corporations, and nonprofit organizations. Very little is known about PA coalitions, their organizational members, and the factors related to their success.

Organizational member involvement in physical activity coalitions across the United States: development and testing of a novel survey instrument for assessing coalition functioning.

Introduction: Coalitions are often composed of member organizations. Member involvement is thought to be associated with coalition success. No instrument currently exists for evaluating organizational member involvement in physical activity coalitions.

Development of a National Physical Activity Plan for the United States.

Background: Efforts to increase population levels of physical activity are increasingly taking the form of strategic plans at national, state/regional, and local levels. The processes employed for developing such plans have not been described previously. The purpose of this article is to chronicle the processes employed in and lessons learned from developing the US National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP).

Factors related to partner involvement in development of the US national physical activity plan.

Context: Physical activity coalitions are increasingly forming to meet the demands associated with policy, systems, and environmental change necessary to realize increases in population levels of physical activity. Little is known about what makes physical activity coalitions successful; however, evidence from community-based coalitions in other public health domains suggests that factors related to each organization that joins a coalition may explain coalition success or failure.

Objective: The objective of this study was to employ qualitative methods to understand the factors related to organizations' decisions to join and remain committed to the coalition that developed and launched the US National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP).

Lessons in promoting active living: the collaborative perspective.

Context: Collaborative groups are integral in health promotion and disease prevention and use an ecological approach to address complex health conditions in community settings. Little is known about collaborative efforts to promote active living.

Objective: The objective of this analysis is to explore successes and challenges of collaborative groups in promoting active living in their communities.

Advancing environmental and policy change through active living collaboratives: compositional and stakeholder engagement correlates of group effectiveness.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate compositional factors, including collaborative age and size, and community, policy, and political engagement activities that may influence collaboratives' effectiveness in advancing environmental improvements and policies for active living.

Design/participants/setting: Structured interviews were conducted with collaboratives' coordinators. Survey items included organizational composition, community, policy, and political engagement activities and reported environmental improvements and policy change.

Convergent validity of pedometer and accelerometer estimates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of youth.

Background: Pedometer step-frequency thresholds (120 steps·min-1, SPM) corresponding to moderate-to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) have been proposed for youth. Pedometers now have internal mechanisms to record time spent at or above a user-specified SPM. If pedometers provide comparable MVPA (P-MVPA) estimates to those from accelerometry, this would have broad application for research and the general public.

Convergent Validity of Pedometer and Accelerometer Estimates of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity of Youth.

Background: Pedometer step-frequency thresholds (120 steps·min, SPM) corresponding to moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) have been proposed for youth. Pedometers now have internal mechanisms to record time spent at or above a user-specified SPM. If pedometers provide comparable MVPA (P-MVPA) estimates to those from accelerometry, this would have broad application for research and the general public.

Accelerometer-derived physical activity levels of preschoolers: a meta-analysis.

Objectives: This study synthesized the published estimates of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPAd(-1)) of preschooler-age children (3-5 years).

Design: Meta-analysis of previously published studies reporting accelerometer-derived estimates of daily MVPA of preschoolers.

Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify studies published by March 2010 that reported daily minutes of accelerometer-derived MVPA in preschool-age children (3-5 years).

Equating accelerometer estimates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity: in search of the Rosetta Stone.

No universally accepted ActiGraph accelerometer cutpoints for quantifying moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) exist. Estimates of MVPA from one set of cutpoints cannot be directly compared to MVPA estimates using different cutpoints, even when the same outcome units are reported (MVPA mind(-1)). The purpose of this study was to illustrate the utility of an equating system that translates reported MVPA estimates from one set of cutpoints into another, to better inform public health policy.

Compliance with national guidelines for physical activity in U.S. preschoolers: measurement and interpretation.

Objective: The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) guidelines for preschoolers recommend 120 minutes of physical activity daily. Two issues, however, create a situation whereby substantial variation in estimated prevalence rates of (in)active preschoolers are reported. First, NASPE guidelines have been interpreted in multiple ways.

The impact of combined health factors on cardiovascular disease mortality.

Background: The combined effect of modifiable health factors on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality has not been well established. The objective of this study was to determine the association between 5 modifiable health factors in combination on the risk of CVD mortality in a sample of adult men.

Methods: A cohort of 38,110 men (aged 20-84 years and of middle and upper socioeconomic strata) was followed over time until their date of death or December 31, 2003.

A review of the national physical activity plans of six countries.

Background: Architects of the United States national physical activity plan can benefit from a thorough understanding of national physical activity plans from other nations. The purpose of this paper was to search for and analyze comprehensive national physical activity plan documents that can best inform the development of the U.S.

Pedometer-measured physical activity patterns of youth: a 13-country review.

Context: Insufficient physical activity among young people aged 5-18 years is a global public health issue, with considerable disparities among countries. A systematic review was conducted to identify studies reporting pedometer daily steps (steps x day(-1)) in order to compile comparative, global cross-sectional data on youth physical activity patterns.

Evidence Acquisition: Articles were included if they were in English, published by April 2009, and reported steps x day(-1) for boys and girls, separately, and reported steps x day(-1) for age groupings of no more than 4 years (e.

A Review of the National Physical Activity Plans of Six Countries.

Background: Architects of the United States national physical activity plan can benefit from a thorough understanding of national physical activity plans from other nations. The purpose of this paper was to search for and analyze comprehensive national physical activity plan documents that can best inform the development of the U.S.