Latest CA PE report

Rec'd this from a colleague over at San Bernardino County Public Health, Pam Sampson!
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Good afternoon Fit 2Gether partners and LIAs,

Last one for the day. Thought you may be interested in the Health Policy Brief from UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. See summary below, and the policy brief attached or visit, http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/pubs/files/adolescentpepb.pdf. …Pam

FYI: CA recommends 200 minutes/every 10 days for elementary and 400 minutes/every 10 days for middle & high school, but NASPE recommends 150 minutes/week plus one 20 minute recess/day for elementary and 225 minutes/week for middle & high school.

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May 2011

Adolescent Physical Education and Physical Activity in California

Allison L. Diamant, Susan H. Babey and Joelle Wolstein

S UMMA R Y: In California, more than 1.3 million adolescents (38%) do not participate in physical education (PE) at school, and this rate increases dramatically with age, from just 5% at age 12 to 77% at age 17. In addition, only 19% of teens meet current physical activity recommendations. Participation in PE at school is associated with more overall physical activity. Policies that promote more opportunities for physical activity, including those that help schools meet or exceed current PE requirements, can contribute to greater levels of physical activity for adolescents.

Can Wii make you fit?

5-22-11: Check out this article that quotes some character named Medina! ;-)

http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/can-wii-make-you-fit-the-arguments-for-and-against-1530/

Can active video games replace treadmill?

5-12-11 Thx to Exergaming Evangelist from Down Under, Brett, for tweeting and posting this on FB!

Heart Rate and Perceived Exertion During Self-Selected Intensities for Exergaming Compared to Traditional Exercise in College-Age Participants

Kraft, Justin A; Russell, William D; Bowman, Tracy A; Selsor, Clifford W III; Foster, Grant D

Check out this just published article in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, March 2011.

They compared workouts on DDR and Gamebike to treadmill and here's what they found:

"Results support that exergames are capable of eliciting physiological responses necessary for fitness improvements. Practitioners might consider exergames as periodic activity options for clients needing motivation to be regularly active."

The evidence just keeps coming out that certain exergames CAN reach the MVPA level!

Promoting PA @ a health fair

5-11-11: I rec'd this e-mail request from a nursing student who was putting together a booth about physical activity for a health fair. I thought I'd save my response to him here, in case anyone else was wanting to do the same thing for their school, church, workplace, etc. Here it is!

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I would go to the website, Execise is Medicine, because they have a lot of resources for the healthcare provider, health educator, lay person, etc. There are things you can print off there or maybe even order if you have time.

I personally don't have a lot of "give away" stuff here, due to lack of storage space, so your best bet would be to go to EIM. I'm also going to cc this to a contact at the county health dept., Pam Sampson. She's my physical activity evangelist at the county and she may have some resources there you can pick up as well. She was instrumental in putting together the "Be Active Directory" for the tri-county area, a listing of free and low-cost options for PA. You can either print those out or give out a flyer with the link on it (http://tinyurl.com/Beactivedirectory).

Finally, for your booth, I would maybe have some kind of activity, like a game of some sort (we usually do the Xavix jackie chan Dash as a 10-sec. contest for fair goers to try and see if they can break the top scores--you can see if you can borrow that from Claudio at the XRtainment Zone in the Drayson Center. They may be able to spare a unit for your fair).

Also, some visiual, to catch their attention, like have a picture of a big couch potato on the couch, a smoker, and someone who is overweight, and ask the question: Which is the most deadly risk factor of the 3? (Answer: couch potato!) Something to get people thinking.

One last resource would be the "Be Active Your Way" blog, put out by the Dept. of HHS. They may have some handouts you can print out, at least the federal guidelines and how to get started articles, that kind of thing.

Sitting can kill? Miracle Gro on brain?

Want to see why sitting for long periods of time is hazardous to your health, or what stimulates the "Miracle Gro" of the brain to be released?

You can find the answers on the USDHHS's Physical Activity blog!