Why not fill in an enquiry form and receive our Exercise Referral Times Ezine
and be kept up to date with regular updates on Exercise Referral?
The Latest Exercise Referral News & Information
| 20.05.08 - | The WRIGHT Foundation Launches New Web Site! |
| 19.05.08 - |
Stress At Work Increases The Progression Of Arteriosclerosis Back to Top of Page Work stress, resulting from great pressure at the work place, may increase the progression of atherosclerosis by 46% in people who have highly reactive personalities to stress. This is demonstrated by a study which will be discussed at the XVI World Congress of Cardiology to be held from May 18th - May 22nd in Buenos Aires and will be attended by 15,000 professionals from more than 100 countries. The study, performed by researchers at the School of Public Health in Berkeley, U.S.A., found that the association of stress and very demanding work in a personality highly reactive to stress, results in the thickening of the internal walls of the carotid arteries and formation of atherosclerotic plaques which progressively obstruct blood flow. Both factors are markers of the progression of atherosclerosis that underlies cardiovascular disease. "Studies like these have shown that work stress is associated to cardiovascular disease," states Dr. C. Noel Bairey Merz, Director of the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center at Cedars-Sinai in the U.S.A., who will speak on stress at work during the Congress. "And, although it is difficult to estimate how many people are at risk of coronary disease because of work stress, the most recent analysis of the INTERHEART study directed by Dr. Salim Yusuf makes it possible to estimate that from 20% to 30% of heart attacks can be attributed to psychological stress." The INTERHEART study, which covered 52 countries and a population of 25,000 patients, has shown a link between depression, work or family stress and acute myocardial infarction. "In the INTERHEART study, psychosocial factors were shown to be more potent predictors of the incidence of myocardial infarction than diabetes, smoking, hypertension and obesity in the multivariate analysis," said Dr. Monica Acevedo B., cardiologist and assistant professor at the Cardiology Dept. of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. "The presence of these factors clearly increased the risk of infarction," says Dr. Néstor Vita of Argentina, Professor of Internal Medicine at the Rosario University Institute and Vice-President of the XVI World Congress of Cardiology, when referring to stress and depression. "A sub-trial made mostly in South America showed that the cardiovascular impact of these factors is greater in Latin America than in Western Europe." The prevention of modifiable cardiovascular risks factors, including stress, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia, is the central theme of the XVI World Congress of Cardiology, the most important scientific event in world cardiology. Dr. Vita states "The impact of stress on the cardiovascular apparatus is due to a direct connection between the brain and the heart. Although this link was intuited from the very beginning of medicine, technological progress has made it possible with experiments to take it to the field of medical truths." It is known today that psychological stress constitutes both a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and a triggering factor of cardiovascular events such as acute myocardial infarction. "Psychological stress following two different pathways," Dr. Bairey Merz explains. "Indirectly, stress is linked to a poor compliance to healthy lifestyles and medical therapy; directly, stress causes blood vessel constriction, the formation of more blood clots, high blood pressure, a greater tendency to insulin and diabetes." In all cases, stress requires a multi-disciplinary approach: "Exercise and psychotherapy are fundamental for long term treatment. A change in lifestyle, difficult to achieve, must be the final goal of any treatment, which means a correct management of work load, time and money," said Dr. Vita. "The need for weekly and yearly rest is very important and one of the ways to achieve this is to strengthen inter-personal and family links." As to the possibility of implementing strategies to reduce the impact of work stress at the workplace itself, Dr. Bairez Merz says: "Clinical studies have reported different results on the capacity of improving cardiovascular outcome. This field is in its infancy and more research is required." |
| 18.05.08 - |
Post-Surgery Exercise Benefits Lung Cancer Patients Back to Top of Page Patients who have undergone surgical procedures for the removal of lung cancer can tolerate and benefit from exercise regimens started just a month after surgery, according to a new study led by researchers at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Previous studies have demonstrated that exercise can benefit cancer survivors but lung cancer patients have been a particularly challenging group, because surgery on the lung was perceived to have a restrictive effect on the amount of exercise a person can do," said Lee Jones, Ph.D., a researcher at Duke and lead investigator on the study. "Our study showed that this population can not only tolerate exercise but that it can lead to improved tolerance for exercise, and better quality of life." This study lays the foundation for future studies looking at the effect of exercise on survival in lung cancer patients, Jones said. The researchers will share their findings in a poster presentation on Sunday, June 1, at this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting on May 31, in Chicago. The study was funded by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. This study followed 20 newly diagnosed lung cancer patients, who had undergone surgery. Participants had been diagnosed with Stage I to Stage IIIb cancer. The patients were expected to participate in three hour-long exercise sessions per week, on stationary bikes. The study lasted 14 weeks. The attendance rate for the exercise sessions was nearly 85 percent, and patients were less fatigued and gained greater aerobic fitness over the course of the study, as measured by what is known as a "maximal exercise test," similar to the type Lance Armstrong performed prior to riding in the Tour De France. The test involves having a participant pedal until he can no longer tolerate it, and then measuring his oxygen levels by asking him to breathe into a device. "What we found is that patients can stick with the regimen, and that they are functioning a lot better as a result," Jones said. "Investigating the most effective type of exercise on changes in exercise tolerance, uncovering the mechanisms underlying these changes, and whether these changes can impact long-term survival will be the subject of subsequent studies." Study participant Danny Robbins said that being part of this study has helped him develop an exercise habit, which he hopes will help him continue to beat lung cancer, as well as combat his high blood pressure and diabetes. "Before I participated in this study, I struggled with walking in the neighborhood with my wife," Robbins said. "Now, I exercise five days a week and it's gotten to the point that I don't feel like I have to do it; rather, I feel like I don't want to miss it." |
| 16.05.08 - |
The Battle Against Obesity: Experts And Pharmacists Call For Back to Top of Page An Increased Role For Pharmacy Across The UK New data revealed show that the pharmacy profession is increasingly recognising the potential to be involved in weight management, in a bid to stop the rising number of obese and overweight people.1 Results show 98 per cent of pharmacists in the UK believe that, with support and training, they are well placed to help people with their weight loss efforts.1 These data mirror the recent White Paper, Pharmacy in England, in which the Government recognises the major contribution that pharmacies could make towards healthcare delivery and public health improvement.2 Terry Maguire, a community pharmacist in Belfast and a fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain who is championing a pilot programme that is assessing the impact of a pharmacy based obesity service in Coventry, UK says: "As possibly the biggest public and personal health threat to the UK today, pharmacy is an under-utilised resource that could be tackling obesity, providing ongoing advice and valuable behavioural change support, direct to the general public. The obesity 'epidemic' is, as yet, unabated and we urgently need to look at broadening our options to help people lose weight. What we are currently doing is not enough." Supporting the findings, European experts at the 16th European Conference of Obesity (ECO) in Geneva, Switzerland, met today to discuss the future role of pharmacy and argued that 'many hands make light work' when it comes to tackling such a huge public health issue in the UK where: - Approximately 65 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women are either overweight or obese3 - 40 per cent of adults are actively trying to lose weight 4 - 63 per cent of those that feel overweight have done so for over three years.5 The new survey data, released today, suggest that the pharmacy profession is well placed to provide the support needed to help people manage their weight. Of the UK pharmacists surveyed: - 94 per cent think that guidance on healthy eating should be provided1 - 94 per cent think they should offer advice on weight loss medication1 - 92 per cent think they should give advice on behavioural change.1 Evidence suggests that providing behavioural support to people increases the chance of successful weight loss.6 Furthermore, the UK general public shows the strongest support across Europe for allowing pharmacies to offer more services.7 "There is a lot that can be learnt from other public health areas, like smoking quit-rates for example, where pharmacists have supported thousands of people to stop smoking. We would therefore welcome the opportunity for overweight and obese people to visit their pharmacist for help to change their behaviour, lose weight and improve their overall health. Losing just 5-10 per cent of your body weight will have a major improvement on the problems caused by obesity; weight reductions of 5-10 kg, for example, have been shown to improve back and joint pain, diabetes, symptoms of breathlessness and sleep apnoea" commented Dr David Haslam GP and Clinical Director of the National Obesity Forum (NOF). Additional data presented for the first time at ECO highlight a successful approach to weight loss from the US. Results showed that overweight and obese adults in the US who purchased orlistat 60 mg, a clinically-proven medication available without prescription in the US and who had access to a tailored, behavioural, online support programme lost on average, 4.3 per cent of their original body weight after twelve weeks.8 Furthermore, data from clinical trials with orlistat 60 mg show that people who responded well to treatment at twelve weeks continued to do well when weight loss was measured at six or twelve months.9 This suggests that encouraging people in their weight loss effort during the first few weeks of treatment may improve the longer term treatment outcome. Dr Terry Maguire, community pharmacist in Belfast, past-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland and a Fellow of both the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Dr David Haslam is a GP and Physician in Obesity Medicine at the Centre for Obesity Research at Luton and Dunstable Hospital and Clinical Director of the National Obesity Forum (NOF). He is Chair of the NOF's Charity Foundations, a member of the Counterweight Board, Visiting Lecturer at Chester University and Visiting Fellow at the Postgraduate Medical School of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. (The survey was carried out by ICM Research in April 2008 among a total of 350 pharmacists in the UK and six other European countries). References 1. Survey among 350 pharmacists in Europe, across Czech Republic, Germany, France, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and the UK. ICM Research. 2008. 2. Pharmacy in England. Building on strengths - delivering the future. Department of Health. 2008. 3. Health Survey for England 2003. National Centre for Social Research, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Royal Free and University College Medical School. Commissioned by Department of Health. Department of Health. December 2004. 4. GB TGI, BMRB Autumn 2003-Q4 2007. Mintel International Group Ltd. 5. Quantitative obesity market research. BMRB Enlightenment. 2008 6. Heshka S, Anderson J et al. Weight loss with self-help compared with a structured commercial program. JAMA. 2003; 289: 1792-1798. 7. Greater Expectations. Pharmacy Based Helathcare - The Future for Europe? The London School of Pharmacy. University of London. 2007. 8. Daggy B, Schwartz SM et al. Demographics, weight loss and satisfaction results for consumers enrolled in the online behavioural support program for non-prescription 60 mg orlistat. Poster at the 16th European Congress on Obesity (ECO), Geneva, Switzerland. 14-17 May 2008. 9. Bacon TH, Schwartz SM et al. Evaluation of early weight loss measures as predictors for successful treatment with orlistat 60 mg. Poster at the 16th European Congress on Obesity (ECO), Geneva, Switzerland. 14-17 May 2008. |
| 13.05.08 - |
Quit Smoking Message Not Getting Air Time In Mental Health Care Back to Top of Page People with mental illness are not receiving the support they need to stop smoking, despite high rates of nicotine dependence and deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses. According to Professor Steve Kisely, from Griffith University's School of Medicine, health services are failing to provide appropriate smoking cessation strategies to people with problems including depression, schizophrenia or post-traumatic stress disorder. He said smoking rates in people with mental illness were twice the rates in the general population. "Deaths from largely preventable diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease outnumber deaths from suicide in psychiatric patients by ten to one. There is a forgotten epidemic of physical illness in the mentally ill - another example of the inequities in our health system." In a recent review of the medical evidence for smoking interventions in mental illness, Professor Kisley said health professionals were not routinely including smoking status in patient treatment plans, encouraging smokers to quit, referring them for counselling or offering effective drug therapies. Yet the literature review found that a combination of long term pharmacotherapy and psychological interventions for smoking cessation were as effective in people with mental illness as they were in the general population. "These people can spend up to 40 per cent of their income on cigarettes and are significantly disadvantaged by their smoking. Smoking may also interfere with other medications they are taking and increase the risk of adverse side effects," he said. Professor Kisely said the most effective treatments for smoking cessation were a combination of psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy and nicotine replacement therapies or other prescription medicines such as bupropion (Zyban). The study also concluded that treatment to stop smoking would be more effective when integrated into patients' overall mental health care. |
| 12.05.08 - |
Pollution Linked To Deep Vein Thrombosis And Blood Clots Back to Top of Page New research on people living in Italy, suggests that long term exposure to air pollution is linked to an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis and blood clots in the legs or thighs, adding to previous research findings linking particulate air pollution and increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases. The study is published in the May 12th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine and is the work of Dr Andrea Baccarelli, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, US, and colleagues from other research centres in Italy and the US. Air pollution comprises small particles and fine droplets of chemical matter produced from burning fossil fuels and other sources. Previous research has linked increasing concentrations of particulate air pollution with increased risk of heart disease and stroke, and scientists have suggested this could be due to the particles causing blood coagulation and arterial thrombosis, wrote the authors in their background information. Baccarelli and colleagues obtained data on 870 deep vein thrombosis (DVT) patients from the Lombardy region of Italy who had been diagnosed between 1995 and 2005 and matched them to 1,210 controls who did not have DVT. Then they assessed the patients' exposure to particulate air pollution in the year before their diagnosis, and for controls, the year before their examination. They used measured mean levels of particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10) obtained from pollution monitors located in 53 different sites within the nine geographic areas where the patients and controls lived. The results showed that: On the effect of hormone therapy and contraceptives, the authors wrote that "Such hormone therapies are independent risk factors for deep vein thrombosis, which is also confirmed in this study by the higher prevalence of oral contraceptive and hormone use in the cases compared with the controls." They concluded that: "Long-term exposure to particulate air pollution is associated with altered coagulation function and DVT risk. Other risk factors for DVT may modulate the effect of particulate air pollution." They said their findings "introduce a novel and common risk factor into the pathogenesis of deep vein thrombosis," and add weight to the case for tighter controls to reduce urban air pollution. |
| 12.05.08 - |
Study Documents Prevalence Of Obesity And Its Association With Back to Top of Page Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Several Ethnic Groups Obesity rates appear high in most but not all ethnic groups in the United States, and extra weight is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and markers of sub-clinical heart disease, according to a report in the May 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The United States, along with many other countries, is experiencing an epidemic of obesity, according to background information in the article. Between 1960 and 2000, rates of obesity increased from 11 percent to 28 percent in men and 16 percent to 34 percent in women. "The obesity epidemic has the potential to reduce further gains in the U.S. life expectancy, largely through an effect on cardiovascular disease mortality [death]," the authors write. Gregory L. Burke, M.D., M.S., of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C., and colleagues assessed data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), which involved 6,814 individuals age 45 to 84 who did not have cardiovascular disease when the study began (2000 to 2002). Participants completed a standard questionnaire with information about demographics and health risk factors and also underwent testing for a variety of cardiovascular disease markers. "A large proportion of white, African American and Hispanic participants were overweight (60 percent to 85 percent) and obese (30 percent to 50 percent), while fewer Chinese American participants were overweight (33 percent) or obese (5 percent)," the authors write. "A higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with more adverse levels of blood pressure, lipoproteins [cholesterol] and fasting glucose despite a higher prevalence of pharmacologic treatment." Obesity also was associated with the following risk factors for heart disease and stroke: - A 17 percent greater risk of coronary artery calcium, which may be a marker of coronary artery disease - A 45 percent greater risk of having artery walls thicker than the 80th percentile in the common carotid arteries, which is a marker for atherosclerosis - A 2.7-fold greater risk of having a left ventricle (the lower chamber of the heart that pumps blood throughout the body) with a mass higher than the 80th percentile "These data confirm the epidemic of obesity in most but not all racial and ethnic groups," the authors conclude. "The observed low prevalence of obesity in Chinese American participants indicates that high rates of obesity should not be considered inevitable. These findings may be viewed as indicators of potential future increases in vascular disease burden and health care costs associated with the obesity epidemic." |
| 12.05.08 - |
The Number Of Fat Cells Remains Constant In All Body Types Back to Top of Page The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and '60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human's body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells. These results could help researchers develop new pharmaceuticals to battle obesity as well as the accompanying diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. A new study by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist Bruce Buchholz - along with colleagues from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden; Humboldt University Berlin, Foundation of Research and Technology in Greece; Karolinska University Hospital; and Stockholm University - applied carbon dating to DNA to discover that the number of fat cells stays constant in adulthood in lean and obese individuals, even after marked weight loss, indicating that the number of fat cells is set during childhood and adolescence. Carbon dating is typically used in archaeology and paleontology to date the age of artifacts. However, in this application, which appeared in the May 4 early online edition of the journal Nature, the scientists used the pulse of radiocarbon to analyze fat cell turnover in humans. Radiocarbon or carbon-14 is naturally produced by cosmic ray interactions with air and is present at low levels in the atmosphere and food. Its concentration remained relatively constant during the past 4,000 years, butatmospheric testing of nuclear weapons from 1950-1963 produced a global pulse in the amount of radiocarbon in the atmosphere, Buchholz said. In the new study, Buchholz analyzed the uptake of carbon-14 in genomic DNA within fat cells to establish the dynamics of fat cell turnover. Approximately 10 percent of fat cells are renewed annually at all adult ages and levels of body mass index. Neither fat cell death nor its generation rate is altered in early onset obesity, suggesting a tight regulation of the number of fat cells in obese adults. "Fat cells change in size but no one had ever measured fat cell turnover," Buchholz said. "An increase in cell size means it can hold more mass." Obesity is increasing in epidemic proportions in most countries and poses a public health problem by enhancing the risks for cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased sharply for both adults and children since the 1970s. Data from two National Health and Nutrition Examination surveys show that among adults aged 20-74 years the prevalence of obesity increased from 15 percent (in the 1976-80 survey) to 32.9 percent (in the 2003-04 survey). The two surveys also show increases in overweight children and teens. For children aged 2-5 years, the prevalence increased from 5 percent to 13.9 percent; for those aged 6-11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5 percent to 18.8 percent; and for those aged 12-19 years, prevalence increased from 5 percent to 17.4 percent. In the Nature study, the team first found that there was a direct correlation between the measures of fat mass (measured from body mass index (BMI) and fat cell volume in subcutaneous fat, which represents about 80 percent of all fat, and visceral fat. In a study of 687 adults, the researchers found that number of fat cells increases in childhood and adolescence, but levels off and remains constant in adulthood. The group looked at whether the number of fat cells changes under extreme conditions such as drastic weight loss by radical reduction in caloric intake, such as through bariatric surgery. The treatment resulted in a significant decrease in BMI and fat cell volume; however, it did not reduce the number of fat cells two years after the surgery. Similarly, significant weight gain (15-25 percent) over several months in non-obese adult men resulted in significant increase in body fat volume but no change in number. Subsequent weight loss back to baseline resulted in a decrease in fat cell volume but no change in the number of fat cells. "If you are overweight and you lose weight, you still have the capacity to store lipids because you still have the same number of fat cells. That may be why it's so hard to keep the weight off," Buchholz said. Overweight and obesity result from an energy imbalance - eating too many calories and not getting enough physical activity. Body weight is the result of genes, metabolism, behavior, environment, culture and socioeconomic status. "This work may give us new ideas of how to deal with the diseases that go along with obesity," Buchholz said. |
| 11.05.08 - |
After School Activity Reduces Excess Weight Gain In Adolescent Girls Back to Top of Page The middle school years is the time when time kids spend begin to spend less time in physical activity, a growing concern as youth obesity rates rise. A new study of middle school girls shows that after-school programs, in addition to school physical education classes, may be one answer to reducing obesity in teens. The just-released results of the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) showed that moderate to vigorous after-school physical activity, in programs that can range from hip hop dancing to surfing, can modestly increase the amount of physical activity for young teenage girls, to the point that it could prevent excess weight gain of about two pounds per year. If sustained, that extra activity could prevent a girl from becoming overweight as a teenager or adult. Results are published in the article, "Promoting Physical Activity in Middle School Girls," in the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Deborah Young, professor and interim chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics in the University of Maryland, College Park, School of Public Health, was a researcher on the TAAG study. Below she answers questions about the study and increasing physical activity in adolescent girls. BACKGROUND: The TAAG study found that programs which linked schools in six geographic regions of the U.S. with community partners (such as the YMCA or YWCA, local health clubs, and community recreation centers) increased time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among the middle-school female students by about two minutes per day, or 80 calories a week. This finding occurred after three years of the intervention, but not after two years. TAAG showed a reduction of 8.2 minutes of sedentary behavior in girls in the intervention schools. Furthermore, the best results were seen in programs offered between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, which suggest that after-school programs are more effective than programs offered at other times, such as morning weekdays and weekends. The study results, say the authors, support the need for schools and community programs to work together to provide opportunities for physical activity programs in after-school settings. The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Q: Why did you study only girls? Young: While physical activity declines in both boys and girls across adolescence, it declines at a greater rate in girls. Also, previous studies indicate that boys and girls at this age tend to prefer different types of activities and have different reasons for being active. So we would have had to design distinct programs for boys if we included them. Q: What was the purpose of studying after-school activities and not just school phys ed programs? Young: We wanted to take a comprehensive approach to altering the environment in which girls are likely to be physically active. Physical education is often only conducted two to three times per week in the schools. A high quality PE class may only get 50 percent of the time in physical activity -- which may be less than 20 minutes or so. So while a major focus of TAAG was on improving physical activity in PE class, we also wanted to provide more opportunities for girls to be active. From early studies we did preparing for TAAG, we found that there weren't many after-school physical activity opportunities for girls at this age -- especially for girls who are "athletes" or play on highly skilled travel teams. So providing after-school programs filled a gap. Q: What did you find out about motivating girls at this age to stick with physical activity? Young: To get and keep girls active, we took a comprehensive approach. We developed lessons for the teachers to teach on motivation and goal setting, and gave students an opportunity to practice those skills.We worked with the PE teachers to promote choice in PE class, which from early work the girls said they would like. It might have been a choice of skill level or a choice of activities during class. Many of the programs were short -- sometimes only four weeks in length -- so girls wouldn't get bored. The promotional campaigns were designed to be motivational. For example, in some schools, classes competed against each other in the pedometer challenge. Q: What kinds of activities did they do? Young: After school programs included Hip-Hop dance, walking clubs, lacrosse clinics, swimming programs, training for a 5K road race. One site had surfing lessons! Schools and community agencies worked to provide a number of different activities that would appeal to different girls -- athletes and non-athletes. Q: The prevention of weight gain of two pounds a year seems small. What does this mean in the big picture? Young: Prevention of weight gain wasn't a goal of the study, so if we were aiming to influence weight gain we might have seen even greater results. However, given the rise of the obesity epidemic, any weight gain prevention on a population level is important. Also, two pounds per year add up to 20 lbs in 10 years -- an amount that could significantly impact an adult's health status. Q: The paper points to difficulty of funding programs like this. What are some ways communities might address that challenge? Young: Committed volunteers can be a valuable resource. If a responsible adult can lead a physical activity class even for as few as four weeks, that's a start. The more volunteers that can do this, more programs can be provided. Transportation to and from off-site programs, like the YMCA, is always a problem -- so again, working with volunteers to schedule carpools can help. At the broader level, the comprehensive approach needs to be taken at the school level. If schools can find funds to pay a stipend to teachers to coordinate programs like TAAG and ensure that teachers are trained to implement programs, the programs are more likely to be sustained. Q: Were you surprised by any of the results of the study? Young: We were surprised that the control group at the end of the second year of the intervention was as active as it was. We didn't see changes after two intervention years, but did after three years, which we believe was because of an especially active control group. We were also somewhat surprised that at the third year of intervention, after which the program champion directed the intervention, physical activity levels in the intervention schools were identical to the second year, in which there was a more full implementation of the program. Q: Where can students and families find more information about the value of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity? Young: There are a number of excellent web sites -- including this by NHLBI: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan University of Maryland, College Park 2101 Turner Bldg. College Park, MD 20742-5411 United States http://www.umd.edu |