The World Health Organization STEPwise Approach to Noncommunicable Disease Risk-Factor Surveillance: Methods, Challenges, and Opportunities.

Objectives: We sought to outline the framework and methods used by the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach to noncommunicable disease (NCD) surveillance (STEPS), describe the development and current status, and discuss strengths, limitations, and future directions of STEPS surveillance.

Methods: STEPS is a WHO-developed, standardized but flexible framework for countries to monitor the main NCD risk factors through questionnaire assessment and physical and biochemical measurements. It is coordinated by national authorities of the implementing country.

Physical activity in 22 African countries: results from the World Health Organization STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance.

Background: Baseline physical activity data are needed to effectively plan programs and policies to prevent noncommunicable diseases, but for many African countries these data are lacking.

Purpose: To describe and compare levels and patterns of physical activity among adults across 22 African countries.

Methods: Data from 57,038 individuals from 22 countries (11 national and 11 subnational samples) that participated in the STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance (2003-2009) were analyzed in 2010.

Diet and physical activity in schools: perspectives from the implementation of the WHO global strategy on diet, physical activity and health.

Non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, are by far the leading cause of mortality in the world, representing 60% of all deaths. Unhealthy diets and physical inactivity are well-established risk factors for overweight and the major NCD. In response to the rapid global growth of the NCD burden, the 2008 Action Plan on Prevention and Control of NCD and the 2004 Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health (DPAS) have been developed and endorsed as key international policy instruments.

Global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ): nine country reliability and validity study.

Purpose: Instruments to assess physical activity are needed for (inter)national surveillance systems and comparison.

Methods: Male and female adults were recruited from diverse sociocultural, educational and economic backgrounds in 9 countries (total n = 2657). GPAQ and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) were administered on at least 2 occasions.

The contribution of physical activity and sedentary behaviours to the growth and development of children and adolescents: implications for overweight and obesity.

The obesity epidemic is a global trend and is of particular concern in children. Recent reports have highlighted the severity of obesity in children by suggesting: "today's generation of children will be the first for over a century for whom life expectancy falls." This review assesses the evidence that identifies the important role of physical activity in the growth, development and physical health of young people, owing to its numerous physical and psychological health benefits.

Validation of the intensity of walking for pleasure in obese adults.

Background: Despite evidence that 'walking for pleasure' represents the most common leisure-time physical activity, the exercise intensity associated with 'walking for pleasure' in the obese has not been established.

Methods: Heart rate (HR), perceived exertion (RPE) and walking speed were assessed for 30 obese and 20 non-obese adults as they completed two 2 km-walk tests on alternate days and were compared with a third 2 km walk with subjects walking 'as fast as possible'.

Results: Despite both obese (O) and non-obese (NO) groups rating the intensity of 'walking for pleasure' as 'light', HR and RPE data for only the NO group complied with definitions of 'light' intensity effort.

Physical activity and television viewing in relation to risk of undiagnosed abnormal glucose metabolism in adults.

Objective: The goal of this study was to assess the associations of physical activity time and television (TV) time with risk of "undiagnosed" abnormal glucose metabolism in Australian adults.

Research Design And Methods: This population-based cross-sectional study using a stratified cluster design involving 42 randomly selected Census Collector Districts across Australia included 8,299 adults aged 25 years or older who were free from new type 2 diabetes and self-reported ischemic disease and did not take lipid-lowering or antihypertensive drugs. Abnormal glucose metabolism (impaired fasting glycemia [IFG], impaired glucose tolerance [IGT], or new type 2 diabetes) was based on an oral glucose tolerance test.

Intracarpal steroid injection is safe and effective for short-term management of carpal tunnel syndrome.

A double-blinded placebo-controlled trial was performed to evaluate the use of steroid injections beneath the transverse carpal ligament in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) refractory to nonsurgical therapy. Forty-three patients received 6 mg betamethasone and lidocaine and 38 patients received 1 ml saline placebo and lidocaine. The primary outcome measure was satisfaction with symptom relief.

Capacity building for an integrated noncommunicable disease risk factor surveillance system in developing countries.

For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending that countries implement noncommunicable disease (NCD) surveillance by focusing on the major risk factors that predict the most common NCDs. To achieve this goal, member states are being offered a surveillance framework that provides a first step toward an integrated approach to NCD prevention and control. The goal of this framework, the STEPwise approach to NCD surveillance (STEPS), is to increase and sustain a country's capacity to ensure ongoing surveillance.

Grain growth in nanocrystalline yttrium-stabilized zirconia thin films synthesized by spin coating of polymeric precursors.

This article reports results of experimental studies on the microstructural evolution of nanocrystalline yttrium-stabilized zirconia thin films synthesized on a Si substrate via a polymeric precursor spin-coating approach. Grain growth behavior has been investigated at different annealing temperatures (700-1200 degrees C) for periods of up to 240 h. A similar film thickness (approximately 120 nm) was maintained for all of the samples used in this study, to avoid variation in film thickness-dependent grain growth.