Quantifying the Food and Physical Activity Environments in Rural, High Obesity Communities

The built environment contributes to an individual’s health, and rural geographies face unique challenges for healthy eating and active living. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the nutrition and physical activity environments in rural communities with high obesity prevalence. One community within each of six high obesity prevalence counties in a rural Midwest state completed the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores (NEMS-S) and the Rural Active Living Assessment (RALA). Data were collected by trained community members and study staff. All communities had at least one grocery store and five had at least one convenience store. Grocery stores had higher mean total NEMS-S scores than convenience stores (26.6 vs. 6.0, p < 0.001), and higher scores for availability (18.7 vs. 5.3, p < 0.001) and quality (5.4 vs. 0, p < 0.001) of healthful foods (higher scores are preferable). The mean RALA town-wide assessment score across communities was 56.5 + 15.6 out of a possible 100 points. The mean RALA program and policy assessment score was 40.8 + 20.4 out of a possible 100 points. While grocery stores and schools are important for enhancing food and physical environments in rural areas, many opportunities exist for improvements to impact behaviors and address obesity.

Fitness and the Crisis: Impacts of COVID-19 on Active Living and Life Satisfaction in Austria

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted human lifestyles across the world. Lockdowns and home confinement decreased prior opportunities for everyday physical activity. To retrospectively assess how the Austrian population coped with these aspects of the crisis, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey from March to September 2021 using a structured questionnaire in German. In total, 1214 participants (56.9% females, mean age 37.0 years) living across Austria shared self-reported information on sociodemographic characteristics, indoor and outdoor physical activity, reasons for being outdoors, and life satisfaction before and after the emergence of the virus. As a result, overall indoor physical activity significantly decreased in a before–during COVID-19 crisis comparison, although exercising at home with online instructions increased by about 63%. Exercising outdoors increased overall, specifically in periurban forests and rural areas, both by about 9%. Life satisfaction decreased significantly by 19.7% (p < 0.001). Outdoor public places and natural environments gained importance due to restrictions affecting access to sport facilities. Further research is needed to evaluate benefits and therapeutic values of outdoor nature for physical and mental health in times of a global pandemic to maintain resilient societies, as it might impact future active living and life satisfaction.

Integrating Healthy Eating and Active Living through Knowledge Translation and Inter-Disciplinary Collaborations

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Caregiver Perceptions of Environmental Facilitators and Barriers to Healthy Eating and Active Living during the Summer: Results from the Project SWEAT Sub-Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine caregiver perceptions of summertime neighborhood-level environmental barriers and facilitators to healthy eating and active living in their elementary-age racial minority children. Methods: Caregivers with students in the prekindergarten–fifth grade were recruited from two schools located in low-income urban neighborhoods of Columbus, OH, with a predominantly Black population. Participants engaged in the research portion of the Healthy Eating Active Living: Mapping Attribute using Participatory Photographic Surveys (HEALth MAPPSTM) protocol, which included (1) orientation; (2) photographing and geotagging facilitators and barriers to HEALth on daily routes; (3) in-depth interview (IDI) discussing images and routes taken; (4) focus groups (FG). IDIs and FGs were transcribed verbatim. Analyses were guided by grounded theory and interpretive phenomenology and were coded by researchers (n = 3), who used comparative analysis to develop a codebook and determine major themes. Results: A total of 10 caregivers enrolled and 9 completed the IDIs. Five caregivers participated in focus groups. A majority (77.8%, n = 7) of caregivers identified as Black, female (88.9%, n = 8), and low income (55.6%, n = 5). IDI and FG themes included (1) walkway infrastructure crucial for healthy eating and active living; (2) scarce accessibility to healthy, affordable foods; (3) multiple abandoned properties; (4) unsafe activity near common neighborhood routes. Conclusions: Caregivers perceived multiple neighborhood-level barriers to healthy eating and activity during the summer months when school is closed. Findings from this study provide initial insights into environmental determinants of unhealthy summer weight gain in a sample of predominantly racial minority school-age children from low-income households.

Active Living Becomes Achievable (ALBA): An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Behaviour Change Intervention at Promoting Physical Activity for Improved Mental Wellbeing

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to be beneficial for physical and mental wellbeing. However, there is evidence to indicate people with mental health conditions are significantly less active than the general population. The aim of the research is to evaluate the effectiveness of Active Living Becomes Achievable (ALBA), a behaviour change intervention designed to specifically target individuals with mental and physical health conditions to increase motivation and adherence to physical activity to improve physical and mental wellbeing. 318 participants were recruited through existing exercise referral schemes in three areas of Scotland. A quantitative outcome evaluation, with a before and after design was carried out to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. Participants completed 5 outcome measures—the Scottish Physical Activity Questionnaire (SPAQ), the Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale (SEE), the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) and the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale—and wore an activity tracker for 16 weeks. Participants who opted into the long-term study were monitored for up to 12-months. ALBA significantly improved mental wellbeing, patient activation and self-efficacy. Although the intervention did not appear to increase adherence to PA. The ALBA intervention was effective at improving mental wellbeing but did not have a significant effect on PA levels. This suggests that the additional support offered through the ALBA intervention was key to improving wellbeing.

The Impact of Culture, Identity and Intergenerational Connections on Indigenous Youth Mental Health: Qualitative Findings from a Longitudinal Digital Health Community Trial

Background: Indigenous youth in settler nations are susceptible to poor mental health due to complex inter-generational systemic inequities. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of a culturally-responsive, land-based, active living initiative on the mental health of Indigenous youth. Methods: This study is part of Smart Indigenous Youth (SIY), a mixed-methods 5-year longitudinal digital citizen science initiative. SIY embeds culturally-responsive, landbased active living programs into the curricula of high schools in rural Indigenous communities in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan. In year-1 (Winter 2019), 76 Indigenous youth citizen scientists (13-18 years) from 2 schools participated in the study. At the beginning of the term, each school initiated separate 4-month landbased active living programs specific to their culture, community, geography, and language (Cree and Saulteaux). Before and after the term, focus groups were conducted with the 2 Youth Citizen Scientist Councils, which includes students from both participating schools. This study includes data from focus groups of one participating school, with 11 youth citizen scientists (5 boys, 6 girls). Focus group data were transcribed and analyzed by two independent reviewers using Nvivo to identify themes and subthemes. Both reviewers discussed their thematic analysis to come to a consensus about final findings. Results: Baseline focus group analyses revealed themes demonstrating the importance of Indigenous culture, identity, history, and language. Youth emphasized the impact of loss of language and culture, the importance of being a helper, and the necessity of intergenerational knowledge transfer. Follow-up focus group analyses indicated that cultural school programming led to students expressing positive mental health benefits, increased interest in ceremonies, increased participation in physical activity, and greater knowledge of culture, identity, and ceremonial protocol. Conclusions: Land-based active living can play a critical role in improving Indigenous youth mental health. This study highlights the importance of linking active living with culture and the potential of leveraging citizen-owned ubiquitous tools in implementing interventions in rural communities. Digital citizen science shows promise for supporting Indigenous youth mental health initiatives.

Activate, Inactive, Activity.

<p>Sports facilities in the Central Wellington area cater to physical activity for only a select portion of the population. Most of the time use is determined by the posts at each end of the field. Through the process of design research, I will test ways of maximizing space which is not used in thesefacilities to bring more physical and recreational options to the wider community. The theory of active living will influence the design as it has been associated with preventing diseases andimproving mental health. However, to increase physical activity in the community there needs to be new and improved devices that will encourage physical and social activity. This researchassignment will test what sports and physical activities can co-exist in the same space, maximizing the usage of land in an undulating and shrinking city. Reshaping these facilities will offer options that do not require consistent commitment and can be used whenever the user can dedicate time to recreation, shifting away from traditional sport and using other solutions to keep the community active. This I hope will stimulate and increase community mental health and reduce the risks of non-communicable diseases.</p>

Activate, Inactive, Activity.

<p>Sports facilities in the Central Wellington area cater to physical activity for only a select portion of the population. Most of the time use is determined by the posts at each end of the field. Through the process of design research, I will test ways of maximizing space which is not used in thesefacilities to bring more physical and recreational options to the wider community. The theory of active living will influence the design as it has been associated with preventing diseases andimproving mental health. However, to increase physical activity in the community there needs to be new and improved devices that will encourage physical and social activity. This researchassignment will test what sports and physical activities can co-exist in the same space, maximizing the usage of land in an undulating and shrinking city. Reshaping these facilities will offer options that do not require consistent commitment and can be used whenever the user can dedicate time to recreation, shifting away from traditional sport and using other solutions to keep the community active. This I hope will stimulate and increase community mental health and reduce the risks of non-communicable diseases.</p>