Aundrea Blogger

Two criticisms of the first decade of the ACSM American Fitness Index ® and its annual report were that it was limited to only the 50 most populated cities in the USA and that the entire metropolitan area was counted among the data. These two observations had some merit. Cities protested that a certain suburb was not really a suburb (but based on the federal government definition of Metropolitan Statistical Area it was) and smaller cities like Arlington, Virginia and Madison, Wisconsin said “what about me?” The original approach to the rankings provided important and valuable general messages but limited the ability to provide targeted assistance to city and community leaders. That all changed when the 2018 Fitness Index was released. The number of cities reported on grew to the top 100 largest cities based on population, and the definition of “city” was limited to the city limits. The updated approach provides city leaders with the local data that they need to make changes. The dat...

The American College of Sports Medicine launched the American Fitness Index (Fitness Index) in 2008. The Fitness Index ranks the 100 largest cities in the United States according to variables that reflect and affect physical activity, physical fitness, health and quality of life of community members. Public health databases serve to develop the Fitness Index and include such components as: percent of adults exercising in the last 30 days, percent with obesity, percent who live within 10 minutes of a park and percent walking or biking to work. The Fitness Index provides information to civic and public health leaders regarding the “health” of their city and citizens and serves as a baseline or benchmark for cities to aspire and measure progress. When it comes to changing health behaviors and health outcomes, those efforts that influence policy and environment are the most important levers to pull (think Clean Indoor Air Act). Since implementation of tobacco legislation, we’ve seen the...

In 2008, the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued the federal government’s first-ever Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (Guidelines) to help Americans understand the types and amounts of physical activity that offer important health benefits. Given the extensive amount of new information available over the past decade, DHHS released the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans on November 12, 2018.   #1 How many Americans meet the Physical Activity Guidelines? In 2017, only about 20% of high school students and 25% of adults reported getting enough physical activity to meet the aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines.   #2 How much physical activity do school-aged youth and adults need? The guidelines for children and adolescents are as follows: It is important to provide young people opportunities and encouragement to participate in physical activities that are appropriate for their age, that are enjoyable an...

The other day I heard a story about a woman who hated to exercise. She wanted nothing of it: going to the gym, sweating, walking on the treadmill. Boring. No way! She’d heard about the latest 2018 U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines, but had dismissed them as irrelevant to her life. Recently, she stumbled onto an article that said the activities she was doing in everyday life counted as exercise and that moving more could actually make her feel better. “Cleaning the house, sweeping the porch, mowing the lawn, and walking my child to school are exercise? Really? I need to learn more!” Off she went to search the internet. She discovered the Compendium of Physical Activities that listed MET values for hundreds of activities. METs? What are those? After learning that METs are a multiple of energy expended at rest (1 MET), the woman got a paper and pen and went to work. She listed all of her daily activities and how much time she did them each week. Then she separated the activities into ...

Complete Streets. You’ve heard of it, but you’re not exactly sure what it means or how it can benefit your community. Our friends at the National Complete Streets Coalition (NCSC) put together a handy Q&A to help understand some of the basics of Complete Streets. #1 Who is the National Complete Streets Coalition? The National Complete Streets Coalition , a program of Smart Growth America, is a non-profit, non-partisan alliance of public interest organizations and transportation professionals committed to the development and implementation of Complete Streets policies and practices. We believe that the streets of our cities and towns must allow all people, regardless of age, ability, income, race or ethnicity, to safely, comfortably and conveniently access homes, employment centers, schools, shops, health facilities and other destinations by foot, bicycle, public transportation, car or truck. A community’s street network should reflect the current and planned built environments ...

It is not surprising that having healthy habits, like walking every day, is one way to fight the holiday bulge. But did you know that it can also keep a little extra padding in your pocketbook? As colder weather sets in many of us look forward to a fun and festive holiday season. This busy time of year and its blustery winter weather can also mean that some of our summertime activities and active transportation habits become a distant memory. Add to that the surplus of heart-warming treats and holiday beverages, and it’s easy to see why so many of us set resolutions to lose weight and exercise more when January 1st rolls around. Active transportation is known as a solid way to get active, which can save on health care costs. Active transportation typically means walking or biking to get from place to place, but can also include using public transportation, where the active component is getting to and from stations or stops. An example of this comes from Toronto, Canada. Estimates fro...