Identifying the people and factors that influence children's intentions to make lifestyle changes.

Childhood obesity and health behavior programs are increasingly a focus within literature and individual provider practices. This study was designed to inform "best practices" for establishing effective programs in the medical setting by identifying persons and factors that influence children's willingness to be active, eat healthy, and lose weight when medically appropriate. A total of 342 child and parent dyads living in a rural setting participated in this study.

Built environment and psychosocial factors associated with trail proximity and use.

Objectives: To explore the relationships among neighborhood built environment characteristics, psychosocial factors, perceived and objective proximity assessments, and use of a community rail-trail.

Method: Telephone survey data of adults (n=788) in Morgantown, WVa, were classified into one of 4 distance-perception categories based on actual (using geographic information systems technology) and perceived proximity of a community rail-trail.

Results: Differences in psychosocial barriers to physical activity (P=.