September 2006

General Resources

Introduction

This knowledge path about physical activity and children and adolescents has been compiled by the Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University. It offers a selection of recent, high-quality resources that analyze data, describe public health campaigns and other promotion programs, and report on research aimed at identifying promising strategies for improving physical activity levels within families, schools, and communities. The knowledge path also provides resources that describe the consequences of sedentary behavior. The knowledge path is aimed at health professionals, policymakers, educators, coaches, and families, and it will be updated periodically.

Related knowledge path topics: Child and adolescent nutrition and Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents.

Overview

• See Physical activity and the health of young people, rev. ed. (2006) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This fact sheet highlights the benefits of regular physical activity and the long-term consequences of physical inactivity. It also briefly describes the prevalence and consequences of overweight among children and adolescents and their participation rates in physical activity and in physical education classes.

  
  

Web Sites: A-Z

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Physical Activity. Contains patient education brochures and policy statements on topics that include promoting physical activity, safety tips for home playground equipment, organized sports, physical fitness and activity in schools, and strength training.
  
  
• American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). Includes publications, program information, and links to a research consortium and each of the alliance organizations that represent professionals in physical education, health education, recreation, dance, and sports. The organizations are the American Association for Health Education (AAHE), the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR), the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS), the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), and the National Dance Association (NDA). NASPE, the largest of AAHPERD's national associations, works to improve physical education, sport, and physical activity programs through research, development of standards, and dissemination of information. NASPE recently published

  Shape of the nation report: Status of physical education in the USA. (2006). This report provides information about the status of physical education in each of the states and the District of Columbia. The report emphasizes the importance of high-quality, daily physical education programs for children and adolescents and provides information that can be used to support efforts to expand and improve physical education programs.

  Also see NASPE-Talk and NASPE-Forum.

• American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Offers research grant and conference information, online learning tools, position statements, consumer health and fitness brochures, and other resources about the motivation, responses, adaptations, and health aspects of people engaged in sports and exercise, including children and adolescents.
  
  
• American Council on Exercise (ACE): Youth Fitness. Offers fact sheets and other materials for health and education professionals and families to help promote physical fitness among children and adolescents. ACE is an international, nonprofit fitness certification and education provider.
  
  
• American Heart Association (AHA): Children and Exercise. Contains links to fact sheets and position statements about the importance of physical activity for children and adolescents. Also links to program information for school-based physical activity programs, Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart, HeartPower, an online curriculum-based program for teaching about the heart and how to keep it healthy, and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation Healthy Schools Program.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Supports several initiatives and offers many resources to improve physical activity among children, adolescents, and adults that include

  Guide to Community Preventive Services: Physical Activity. Contains recommendations for population-based interventions to increase physical activity that are appropriate for use by communities and health care systems. Recommendations are focused on interventions in three areas: (1) informational approaches to increasing physical activity, (2) behavioral and social approaches to increasing physical activity, and (3) environmental and policy changes to increasing physical activity.

  Physical Activity Resources for Health Professionals. Offers information and tools for state and local health departments, schools and universities, community coalitions, organizations that fund public health programs, health care systems, and other groups that have an interest in or responsibility for increasing physical activity. Provides key reference documents, data and surveillance resources, information to assist with program planning and evaluation, and ideas for physical activity promotion. Resources include

  • Physical activity and health: A report of the Surgeon General. (1996). This landmark report is a comprehensive overview of research related to physical activity and health.

  Tobacco-Free Sports Initiatives. Offers materials to help coaches, school administrators, and state and local health departments promote the importance of choosing an active and tobacco-free lifestyle.

  Also see these additional CDC resources: Healthy Youth!, BAM! Body and Mind, Powerful Bones. Powerful Girls, VERB: It's What You Do, Designing and Building Healthy Places, Active Community Environments, Data and Surveillance: An Explanation of U.S. Physical Activity Surveys, Data2010: The Healthy People 2010 Database, State-Based Physical Activity Program Directory, and State Legislative Information.

• Disabled Sports USA. Contains information about its nationwide sports rehabilitation programs for anyone who has a permanent physical disability.
  
  
• Girls on the Run (GOTR). Offers information about this nationwide program to promote physical activity and healthy behaviors among girls in grades 3 to 8.
  
  
• Healthy People 2010. Describes this national health-promotion and disease-prevention initiative created by a broad coalition of experts from many sectors to improve the health of all Americans, eliminate disparities in health, and improve years and quality of healthy life. Healthy People 2010 includes 10 leading health indicators that will be used to measure the health of the nation. Physical activity is the number one leading health indicator, and there are several Healthy People objectives concerning physical activity for children and adolescents. Healthy People 2010 provides background information on the initiative; the complete text (online and searchable), Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health (2nd ed.) (2000); data and statistics; a list of the Healthy People partners and related sites; and other Healthy People publications. It is coordinated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). Also see the HP2010 Information Access Project for access to published literature related to the Healthy People 2010 objectives about physical activity and children and adolescents.
  
  
• National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD). Contains resources about physical activity for people with special health care needs. Resources include an e-newsletter; guidelines to consider before starting any kind of exercise program; and fact sheets on many popular activities, games, recreational pursuits, and sports that have been adapted to allow people with disabilities to participate as fully as they wish. NCPAD is part of the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Recent publications include

  Achieving a beneficial fitness for persons with developmental disabilities. (2004).

  Health promotion: Can disability, chronic conditions, health and wellness coexist?, rev. ed. (2005).

• National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA). Contains reports, legislative information, e-newsletters, and other resources aimed at inspiring and empowering all Americans to lead more physically active lifestyles. NCPPA's federal advisory panel includes CDC's Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity (DNPA) and the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS).
  
  
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Offers physical activity resources for families and professionals. NHLBI supports several programs aimed at increasing physical activity levels that include JumpSTART, Hearts N' Parks, and We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity and Nutrition).
  
  
• National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Offers position statements, journal article abstracts, and other resources about strength and conditioning to improve athletic performance and fitness. Topics include anabolic steroid abuse.
  
  
• President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS). Contains resources for coaches, teachers, health and fitness professionals, and families about physical fitness. Includes access to the President's Challenge, an interactive online resource to help all Americans build a regular physical activity routine. Publications include

  PCPFS research digests. This quarterly series offers a summary of recent research on specific physical activity topics, including Physical activity for children: Current patterns and guidelines. (2004)..

• Special Olympics International (SOI). Contains program and event information for SOI's year-round sports training and competitions for children, adolescents, and adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. Contains information about becoming a volunteer coach and guides for coaches in individual sports. Also includes resources aimed at involving children and adolescents with and without mental retardation in Special Olympics. SOI is an international organization dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive, and respected members of society through sports training and competition.
  
  
• Steps to a HealthierUS Initiative. Contains program, conference, and grant information as well as reports, fact sheets, and data for this national initiative by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to improve the lives of Americans through innovative and effective community-based chronic disease-prevention and disease-control programs, of which physical activity is an important component. Resources include Small Step and Smallstep KIDS!
  
  
• Weight-control Information Network (WIN). Offers publications for families and health professionals about physical activity and its importance for weight control and healthy living. Includes brochures and program information about its Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better initiative. WIN is part of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
  

  
  

Additional Electronic Publications

• American Council for Fitness and Nutrition (ACFN). 2006. Successful grassroots health and wellness programs: Exploring common traits. Washington, DC: American Council for Fitness and Nutrition (ACFN). This report examines commonalties among high-quality community programs that promote health and wellness. The following common traits are discussed: cultural relevance, making programs fun for children, strong government focus, having a champion for the health and wellness cause, programs for all ages, and programs targeting the workplace.
  
  
• Babey SH, Diamant AL, Brown R, Hastert T. 2005. California adolescents increasingly inactive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. This report provides information on the physical activity status of California adolescents. The report discusses the percentages of California adolescents who get regular, some, and no physical activity; the physical activity status of girls, Latinos, Asians, and African Americans; the lack of safe parks and open spaces; and the importance of physical education.
  
  
• Bright Futures for Women's Health and Wellness Initiative. 2005. Healthy women build healthy communities toolkit: For physical activity and healthy eating. Rockville, MD: Bright Futures for Women's Health and Wellness Initiative. This tool kit is geared toward women who want to improve the health of their communities by helping people become more physically active and eat healthier foods. Materials include checklists, sample letters, timelines, fliers, posters, news releases, and public service announcements, as well as many tips and suggestions for planning a successful program.
  
  
• Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). 2006. Promoting health through physical activity, rev. ed. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This fact sheet describes the problem of physical inactivity in the United States and federal efforts to improve physical activity levels.
  
  
• Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). 2008. 2008 physical activity guidelines for Americans. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This set of materials provides science-based guidance to help Americans ages 6 and older improve their health through participation in appropriate physical activity. Recommendations are provided for groups such as children and adolescents, adults, older adults, pregnant and postpartum women, and individuals with special health care needs. Materials are available for health professionals, policymakers, adults, organizations, and communities.
  
  
• Government Accountability Office (GAO). 2005. Childhood obesity: Most experts identified physical activity and the use of best practices as key to successful programs. Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office. This report provides information on program strategies and elements most likely to contribute to success in addressing childhood obesity and how those strategies and elements have been implemented. Experts identified increasing physical activity as the most important program strategy.
  
  
• Government Accountability Office (GAO). 2006. Childhood obesity: Factors affecting physical activity. Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office. This briefing presents findings from a literature review to identify factors affecting rates of physical activity for children and adolescents. The factors presented in the articles are discussed in three groups: (1) demographic factors, (2) cognitive and behavioral factors, and (3) community factors.
  
  
• Heroux J. 2005. Lessons learned: Promoting physical activity at the community level. Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This report examines 25 projects funded by RWJF to promote walking, biking, and other activities and offers 12 lessons learned
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). 2006. Overweight and physical activity among children: A portrait of states and the nation 2005. Rockville, MD: Maternal and Child Health Bureau. This chartbook presents national and state-level data on the prevalence of overweight in children and adolescents (ages 10-17) within the context of family structure, poverty level, parental health and habits, and community surroundings. Data topics include the percentage of children and adolescents who exercised or participated in physical activity for 20 minutes or more per day during the past week, the percentage of children and adolescents who were on a sports team or took sports lessons during the past 12 months, and the percentage of children and adolescents who have parents who exercise regularly.
  
  
• Office of the Surgeon General. 2001. Surgeon General's call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity. Rockville, MD: Office of the Surgeon General. This report discusses the prevalence of overweight among all age groups in the United States, the threat overweight poses to health, and actions that individuals at all levels of government and in the private sector can take to address the problem in their communities. Physical-activity-related recommendations include requiring physical education at all school grades and providing safe and accessible recreation facilities.
  
  
• Patrick K, Spear B, Holt K, Sofka D, eds. 2001. Bright Futures in practice: Physical activity. Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH). This book presents physical activity guidelines and tools emphasizing health promotion, disease prevention, and early recognition of physical activity issues and concerns related to infants, children, and adolescents.
  
  
• University of Missouri Extension. 2006. MyActivity pyramid. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Extension.  This sheet is designed to show children (ages 6 to 11 years) how to include physical activities into their daily lives. The colorful, cartoon-like drawings and multiple activity levels depict the kinds and amounts of activity needed each week. This publication is adapted from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid Food Guidance System.
  
  
• Walke JN, Del Rosso JM, Held AK. 2005. Nutrition and physical activity field assessment of children in rural America. Westport, CT: Save the Children. This assessment of nutrition and physical activity status of children in rural areas consists of in-depth interviews and focus groups with 45 partner communities in several states with rural populations.
  

  
  

Databases

The databases listed below are excellent tools for identifying data, additional literature and research, and programs addressing physical activity. Many of the entries below contain tips on how to use the databases efficiently. Please note that databases vary in how terms should be entered; for example, some require quotation marks and others don't. Enter search phrases as shown in bold below.

Data

• CDC's Data and Surveillance: An Explanation of U.S. Physical Activity Surveys. Describes and compares several different national surveys that track physical activity in many age groups and at several levels for the United States national public health objectives. Also provides background information about physical activity assessment. The following surveys are examined: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBSS), National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), and School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS).
  
  
• Child Trends DataBank. Reports on national trends and research on over 80 key indicators of infant, child, and adolescent well-being, including physical activity levels and participation in school athletics. Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization providing research and data to inform decision-making that affects families.
  
  
• Data2010: The Healthy People 2010 Database. Contains the most recent monitoring data for tracking Healthy People 2010. To obtain physical activity data, click on the field, Data by Focus Area. Under the field, Select a Focus Area, choose 22-Physical Activity and Fitness from the pop-up menu. Click on the Submit button or use the other fields to narrow your search. This data set is provided by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) via CDC Wonder.
  
  
• KIDS COUNT. Contains information about this national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. See the data profile, Children and teens not exercising regularly, which ranks by state the share of children and adolescents ages 6 to 17 who engaged in less than 5 days of vigorous physical activity in the past week. KIDS COUNT is a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF).
  
  
• Title V Information System (TVIS). Contains data from annual Title V Block Grant applications and reports submitted by all 59 U.S. states and jurisdictions. To learn about states' efforts to address physical activity in children and adolescents, conduct two searches. Select Measurement and Indicator Data and go to the State Data section. First, select State Priority Needs Keyword Search and choose Keyword: Nutrition/Physical Activity and Population: Children (1 through 21). Click on Start Search. Next, select State Performance Measures and click on Search by Keyword/Population. Select Keyword: Nutrition/Physical Activity and Population: Children (1 through 21). Click on Start Search. TVIS is a service of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).
  
  
• Also see MCHB's Overweight and physical activity among children: A portrait of states and the nation 2005 (2006).
  
  

Literature and Research Databases

• AGRICOLA (AGRICultural OnLine Access). Contains bibliographic information for agricultural literature including many child and adolescent nutrition publications from the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service; state child nutrition agencies; Nutrition Education and Training Program products; Team Nutrition grantees; cooperative extension program materials; and materials from associations, universities, and the private sector. AGRICOLA is organized into two data sets (books and journal articles). To identify books and/or articles on the topic, click on Keyword Search. Enter the terms, children adolescents and select "any of these" and "Subject" in the two fields to the right. Click "And". In the next row, enter fitness exercise and select ""any of these" and "Subject" in the two fields to the right. Click on "Set Limits" to narrow your search (e.g., add a publication date limit). Use the thesaurus to identify terms for related searches. AGRICOLA is a service of the National Agricultural Library (NAL).
  
  
• HP2010 Information Access Project: Physical Fitness. Provides an automatic search mechanism for published literature indexed in PubMed related to the Healthy People 2010 physical fitness objectives. Also links to the narrative for each objective and the complete chapter about physical activity and fitness in the text, Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health, 2nd ed. (2000). This service is provided by the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce, a collaboration of federal agencies, public health organizations, and health sciences libraries.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH), Georgetown University. Maintains several databases to collect, manage, and disseminate knowledge about maternal and child health (MCH), with special emphasis on knowledge gained from initiatives and programs supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The library's bibliographic database is

  MCHLine®. Comprises an online catalog of materials in the Maternal and Child Health Library. To identify items about physical activity, conduct three searches in the keyword field of the database search form using the terms "physical activity", "physical education", and "physical fitness". To narrow your searches, enter a single publication year or range of years, and/or add keywords (e.g., assessment, schools). There will be overlap in the records identified in these searches.

  Also see the MCH Organizations Database.

• National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC). Contains evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related materials for health professionals. Identify guidelines by selecting Detailed Search in the Search box. Enter "physical activity" in the Keyword field. Scroll down on the search form to select Age of Target Population and Publication Date. The database is an initiative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
  
  
• PubMed. Contains over 17 million citations for biomedical articles that date back to the 1950s. These citations are from MEDLINE and additional life sciences journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full-text articles and other related resources. To identify citations on the topic, enter the search phrase exercise OR physical fitness OR physical education and training. Then, click on Limits and make the following selections on the page: select a date (e.g. Published in the last 2 years); click on Humans; click on Languages: English; click on Ages: All Child; and select Tag Terms: MeSH Major Topic. To narrow your search further or for additional searches, use MeSH to identify terms. PubMed is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Also see the HP2010 Information Access Project for access to published literature related to the Healthy People 2010 objectives about physical activity and children and adolescents.
  
  
• Also see Action for Healthy Kids, the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database, and the School Health Resource Database.
  

Programs Databases

• MCH Organizations Database. Lists over 2,000 government, professional, and voluntary organizations involved in MCH activities, primarily at a national level. Find organizations focusing on physical activity by conducting three searches in the database using the terms "physical activity", "physical education", and "physical fitness" in the keyword field of the database search form. There will be overlap in the records identified in these searches. This database is presented by the Maternal and Child Health Library.
  
  
• Shaping America's Youth (SAY) Program Registry. Includes information on intervention programs throughout the United States that are working to improve physical activity and/or nutrition in children and adolescents. Search by program name, keyword, organization, state, and category (e.g., programs addressing physical activity). SAY is a national joint public- and private-sector initiative to identify and centralize efforts currently under way across the United States to reverse the rapidly increasing prevalence of overweight and inactivity among children and adolescents.
  
  
• State-Based Physical Activity Program Directory. Provides information about physical activity programs involving state departments of health. Search by state, setting, program components, or keyword. This database is a resource of the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity (DNPA) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  
  
• State Legislative Information. Contains summaries of state legislative bills related to nutrition and physical activity from 2001 to the present. Links are provided to each state legislature site where the full-text version of the bill is available. This database is a collaborative effort between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
  
  
• Also see Action for Healthy Kids.
  

  
  

Electronic Newsletters and Online Discussion Groups

• NCPAD-News. This monthly electronic newsletter reports on the activities of the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) and other organizations offering new publications, research, and conferences about physical activity for people with special health care needs.
  
  
• National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). Offers NASPE-Talk, an electronic discussion group for professionals in physical education, sport, and physical activity. Also offers NASPE-Forum, a moderated electronic discussion forum for in-depth discussions on topics of interest to physical education, sport, and physical activity professionals.
  
  
• National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA). NCPPA publishes two newsletters. The NCPPA E-Newsletter is published twice each month and contains information on NCPPA activities along with news about research, reports, funding opportunities, and upcoming events on physical activity and related issues. NCPPA's public affairs newsletter, the Activity Advocate, is published once a month and covers federal and state legislative activity concerning physical activity and related issues.
  
  
• Also see CDC's Livability Listserv and the University of South Carolina's Prevention Resource Center's electronic communication services.
  

  
  

Special Topics

Physical Activity Information for Families

• 4 Girls Health: Fitness. Contains information for girls ages 10 to 16 about the benefits of physical activity and offers tools for developing an exercise plan. 4 Girls Health is part of the National Women's Health Information Center.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Supports several initiatives and offers many resources for families about improving physical activity, including

  BAM! Body and Mind: Physical Activity. Offers an interactive site for children and adolescents to motivate them to be more physically active. Includes a physical activity plan, activity cards that explain how to play a wide range of sports and participate in a variety of activities, and articles about overcoming physical challenges.

  Powerful Bones. Powerful Girls. Offers parents information about helping their daughters make healthy choices that build and maintain strong bones, such as participating in physical activity. Includes a companion Web site for girls.

  VERB: It's What You Do. Contains program information and campaign materials for VERB, a multicultural media campaign aimed at increasing physical activity and healthy behaviors among children and adolescents ages 9 to 13, called tweens. Includes Web sites for tweens and parents in English and Spanish, and formative research reports.

  Also see CDC's Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS).

• Eat Smart. Play Hard. Contains background information and promotion materials for this national campaign to promote healthy eating and encourage physical activity in children and their families. The campaign is administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
  
  
• FIT WIC. Offers background information and reports about this initiative and an online gallery of educational materials developed as a result. View Active Play for a wealth of physical activity resources for families with infants and young children. FIT WIC was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
  
  
• Kidnetic.com. Offers games, online activities, and communication opportunities about healthy eating and active living for children ages 9 to 12 and their families. Also provides facts for parents about children and nutrition, physical activity, and self-esteem. Kidnetic.com is an educational outreach program of the International Food Information Council (IFIC).
  
  
• MedlinePlus: Exercise for children. Contains a selective list of authoritative health information sources for consumers and health professionals about physical activity in children and adolescents. Includes links to Web sites, articles, statistics, and other resources on the topic. MedlinePlus is provided by the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
  
  
• MyPyramid Tracker. Offers an online dietary and physical activity assessment tool that provides information on an individual's diet quality and physical activity status, related nutrition messages, and links to nutrient and physical activity information. MyPyramid for Kids is designed for children ages 6 to 11 and features posters, tips for parents, classroom materials, and an interactive computer game where kids can reach Planet Power by fueling their rocket with food and physical activity. MyPyramid is a service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
  
  
• Shape Up America! Tips for Family Fitness Fun. Presents a set of ideas for parents to use to help children and adolescents become more active and live a healthier lifestyle. Shape Up America! is a national initiative to promote healthy weight and increased physical activity, and it involves a broad-based coalition of industry, health, nutrition, physical fitness, and related organizations and experts.
  
  
• Small Step. Provides information in English and Spanish about nutrition and physical activity that aims to help people make health improvements through incremental change in various habits. Includes an activity tracker for users to keep track of physical activities and goals. A companion Web site, Smallstep KIDS!, offers games and activities to help children make wise food choices and increase physical activity. This initiative is presented by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). A recent publication is

  Help your child grow up healthy and strong. (2006).

• We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity and Nutrition). Offers tips, activity ideas, and other resources for parents and caregivers of children ages 8-13 to help them achieve and maintain a healthy weight by focusing on improved food choices, increased physical activity, and reduced screen time. We Can! is an initiative of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
  
  
• Also see the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the American Council on Exercise (ACE), Disabled Sports USA, Girls on the Run (GOTR), Healthy America, Media-Smart Youth, the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD), PE Central, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS), Special Olympics International (SOI), the Weight-Control Information Network (WIN), and the ERIC Database.
  

Additional Electronic Resources

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Discovery Networks. 2004. Max's magical delivery: Fit for kids. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). This interactive DVD for children ages 5 to 9 and their families offers fun suggestions for healthy eating, physical activity, and limiting TV and computer screen time.
  
  
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). 2004. My bright future: Physical activity and healthy eating for young women. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This booklet and wallet card present information about nutrition and physical activity for young women ages 11 to 20. The materials encourage a dialogue between young women and their health professionals to assess current nutrition and activity levels and make improvements.
  
  
• Zero to Three. 2004. On the move: The power of movement in your child's first three years. Washington, DC: Zero to Three. This brochure for parents emphasizes the ways in which movement, dance, and active play can support infants' and toddlers' growing physical awareness and excitement about the world. The brochure describes specific ways in which physical activity stimulates young children's development and offers suggestions for appropriate physical activities for each stage of development. The brochure is also available in Spanish.
  
  
• Also see Bright Futures in practice: Physical activity and the Surgeon General's call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity.
  

  
  

School-Based Physical Activity

• Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK). Offers tools and resources, including databases, for policymakers, educators, and researchers to help support positive changes in child and adolescent nutrition and physical activity in the school environment. Composed of 51 state teams and a national coordinating and resource group, this nationwide initiative receives guidance and direction from more than 50 national organizations and government agencies representing education, health, physical activity, and nutrition. Publications include

  Building the argument: The need for physical activity and physical education in our schools. (2003).

  Learning connection: The value of improving nutrition and physical activity in our schools. (2004).

  Parents' views on school wellness practices. (2005).

• Alliance for a Healthier Generation: Healthy Schools Program. Offers tools, tips, and resources to implement this program aimed at combating the spread of child and adolescent overweight by encouraging healthy behaviors among students and adults in schools. The program includes a component to increase opportunities for students to exercise and play. The alliance is a joint effort of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the William J. Clinton Foundation. Recent resources include

  Healthy Schools Program toolkit overview. (2007).

• CDC's Healthy Youth! Physical Activity. Contains information about physical activity and children and adolescents, including school health policies and programs; data; science-based strategies; and brochures for parents, teachers, and principals. Also contains background information and results from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBSS), which monitors health-risk behaviors, such as physical activity, among students in grades 9 through 12. Other recent initiatives and publications include

  KidsWalk-to-School. Contains information and materials for this community-based program that aims to increase opportunities for daily physical activity by encouraging children to walk to and from school in groups accompanied by adults.

  Physical activity and the health of young people, rev. ed. (2006).

  Physical education curriculum analysis tool. (2006).

  Also see CDC's Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS).

• Department of Education (ED). Provides information about the Carol M. White Physical Education Program for local educational agencies and community-based organizations to initiate, expand, or improve physical education programs, including after-school programs, for children and adolescents. Also supports the ERIC database, an excellent source for materials about physical fitness and education for educational professionals and families.
  
  
• JumpSTART. Contains background information and campaign materials for this school-based program that offers elementary school teachers a series of fun, field-tested activities to promote active, healthy lifestyles for children in grades 3 to 5. JumpSTART is an initiative of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
  
  
• Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active! Offers a Web-based health-promotion program designed to help adolescents ages 11 to 13 become aware of how media may influence the choices they make and to think critically about what they eat and how they spend their time. Participants learn the importance of daily physical activity for good health and develop strategies for becoming more active. A 10-minute Action Break during each lesson engages youth in a fun physical activity. This after-school program was developed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) with input from youth-serving organizations that participated in 10 pilot test sites.
  
  
• National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE): State School Health Policy Database. Comprises a collection of state laws and policies in key areas of school health. Click on View by Topic. Scan the categories in the left sidebar and choose a topic (e.g., Physical Education, Requirements for Physical Educators, Physical Activity Other Than Physical Education, Playground/Facility Safety).
  
  
• National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL): Physical Education and Physical Activity for Children. Presents a 50-state map showing state physical education requirements for 2005.
  
  
• PE Central. Provides lesson and assessment ideas and instructional resources for health and physical education teachers and parents to help children and adolescents become more physically active. PE Central was developed by faculty and doctoral students in Virginia Tech's Health and Physical Education Program.
  
  
• WalkingWorks for Schools. Offers program information and tools for teachers, parents, and children about this program aimed at improving children's health through physical activity during the school day. The program outlines a walking regimen of at least 5 minutes at times during the day convenient for the teacher. WalkingWorks for Schools was developed by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Health.
  
  
• Also see the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), the American Heart Association (AHA), Girls on the Run (GOTR), the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD), the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS), and MyPyramid Tracker.
  

Additional Electronic Publications

• Cawley JH, Meyerhoefe CD, Newhouse D. 2005. Impact of state physical education requirements on youth physical activity and overweight. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. This study examines nationwide data from the YRBSS for 1999, 2001, and 2003 merged with data on state minimum physical education requirements from the 1994 and 2000 School Health Policies and Programs Study and the 2001 Shape of the Nation Report.
  
  
• National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA). 2005. Model school wellness policies. Washington, DC: National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA). This comprehensive set of model nutrition and physical activity policies is intended to provide guidance to local school districts on meeting the federal requirements of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. Topics include physical activity and physical education. Sixty health, nutrition, physical activity, and education organizations assisted with or supported the development of these model school-wellness policies.
  
  
• Rajan R, Green E. 2005. Building healthier schools: Local collaborations to promote nutrition and physical activity, rev. ed. Washington, DC: National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). This compilation profiles a group of local public health agencies that formed partnerships with local school systems to encourage students to make good nutrition and physical activity decisions.
  
  
• Taras H, Duncan P, Luckenbill D, Robinson J, Wheeler L, Wooley S, eds. 2004. Guidelines for health, mental health and safety in schools. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). This compendium is designed to help community and school leaders determine the breadth of school health, mental health, and safety issues and set priorities for future action. The compendium was developed by health, education, and safety professionals from more than 30 different national organizations; parents; and other supporters, and it draws upon published guidelines on specific components of school health and safety programs and on overall coordination of these programs. Topics include physical activity and physical education.
  
  

Databases

• Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK): Resources to Improve Schools. Offers profiles of successful school-based interventions, policies, programs, and practices that improve child and adolescent health and readiness to learn through better nutrition and physical activity. Also offers information about books, pamphlets, toolkits, CD-ROMs, and Web sites about nutrition and physical activity.
  
  
• Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database. Covers all aspects of education-related issues through journal articles, research reports, teaching guides, curricula, conference papers, and books. Search the database to identify many items about physical activity and children and adolescents. Select Advanced Search. Next to Search for: choose Descriptors (from Thesaurus) and enter the term, "physical activities" in the box next to it. Scroll down on the search form to select publication date and/or publication type. To narrow your search further or for additional searches, use the ERIC Thesaurus to identify terms. ERIC is the information database of the Department of Education (ED).
  
  
• School Health Resource Database. Contains abstracts and bibliographic information about sample policies, articles, and training tools that address the many health issues facing local school districts. Select Physical Activity from the list of topics for an automatic search of the database. This database is a resource of the National School Boards Association (NSBA). NSBA also offers Physical Activity 101, an information packet about physical activity levels among students, recommended guidelines for physical activity, and policies that promote quality, lifelong patterns of physical activity, and wellness.
  
  
• Also see AGRICOLA and the Maternal and Child Health Library.
  

  
  

Physical Activity and Community Design

• Active Living Leadership. Contains resources about physical activity, smart growth, and healthy community design for state and local government leaders. Active Living Leadership is a national initiative supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
  
  
• Active Living Network. Offers tools and resources to promote active living and healthy communities. Includes information about Walk-to-School events and Safe-Routes-to-School programs. The network is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Recent publications include

  Making places for healthy kids: An environmental scan of places designed for children to be active. (2005).

• Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO): Healthy Places. Offers resources to assist states in their planning efforts to balance an area's economic, community, environmental, and health needs. Includes state and federal resources, links to national initiatives, links to legislative databases, publications, and presentations on topics such as injury prevention, environmental health, physical activity, and children's health.
  
  
• CDC's Designing and Building Healthy Places: Physical Activity. Offers information, a listserv, and links to resources about the interaction between people and their environments. Topics include children's health and the built environment and physical activity. Other recent initiatives include

  Active Community Environments (ACE). Presents resources to encourage environmental and policy interventions that will affect increased levels of physical activity and improved public health by promoting walking, bicycling, and the development of accessible recreation facilities.

  Also see CDC's Healthy Youth! and the Guide to Community Preventive Services.

• Healthy America: Wellness Where We Live, Work, and Learn. Includes program information and material about this initiative by the National Governors Association to build a culture of physical activity, prevention, and wellness in the United States. Publications include

  Call to action: An agenda for America's governors. (2006).

  Creating healthy states: Building healthy communities. (2006).

  Creating healthy states: Building healthy schools. (2006).

  State policies for shaping healthy, active communities: A Michigan case study. (2005).

• Healthy Community Design. Presents articles, reports, conference materials, and legislative databases covering the wide range of policies that can influence active living. This resource is provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Recent publications include

  Legislative role in healthy community design. (2006).

• Hearts 'N Parks. Contains program information and promotion materials for this national program designed to help park and recreation agencies encourage heart-healthy lifestyles in their communities. The campaign is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Recreation and Park Association.
  
  
• KaBoom! Offers resources to support efforts to create community-built play spaces. KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization with the goal of creating safe places to play within walking distance of every child in America.
  
  
• University of South Carolina Prevention Resource Center (PRC). Offers training information for professionals and researchers who are involved in community-based initiatives to promote physical activity. Also offers a directory of reviewed physical activity promotion materials and electronic communication services.
  

Additional Electronic Resources

• Babey SH, Brown ER, Hastert TA. 2005. Access to safe parks helps increase physical activity among teenagers. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. This policy brief focuses on neighborhood characteristics that influence whether and how much adolescents engage in physical activity, based on data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey.
  
  
• Strategic Alliance Promoting Healthy Food and Activity Environments. 2005. Taking action for a healthier California: Recommendations to improve healthy food and activity options. Oakland, CA: Strategic Alliance Promoting Healthy Food and Activity Environments. This report outlines actions for business and government to improve healthy food and activity options in California.
  
  
• Transportation Research Board, Institute of Medicine. 2005. Does the built environment influence physical activity? Examining the evidence. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board. This report reviews the broad trends affecting the relationships among physical activity, health, transportation, and land use; summarizes what is known about these relationships, including the strength and magnitude of any causal connections; examines implications for policy; and recommends priorities for future research.
  
  
• Also see Lessons learned: Promoting physical activity at the community level and the Surgeon General's call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity.
  

Electronic Newsletter and Online Discussion Groups

• CDC's Livability Listserv. This electronic discussion group addresses issues related to health and the built environment including communities designed to encourage physical activity. An e-newsletter that includes news articles, research, and updates on conferences and events related to livability is sent to all subscribers twice a month.
  
  
• University of South Carolina's Prevention Resource Center. Offers two electronic communication services. USC Prevention Research Center Notes is an electronic newsletter with current information about physical activity and public health. The newsletter includes updates of current journal articles, training opportunities, resource notices, and policy news. The Physical Activity and Public Health On-Line Network is a listserv advancing public health approaches to promoting physical activity by creating a national network of public health practitioners, researchers, and interested others.
  

  
  

Physical Activity Evaluation Resources

• See the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) set of national guidelines and standards for physical activity; Bright Futures in practice: Physical activity; the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) research digest, Physical activity for children: Current patterns and guidelines; MyPyramid Tracker; and CDC's Physical education curriculum analysis tool, which lists physical activity assessment tools.
  

  
  

Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., Maternal and Child Health Library.
Reviewers: Rita W. Miller, American Cancer Society; Heather Morris, National Association for Sport and Physical Education; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., Maternal and Child Health Library.