Katrina Hall talks about some of the hurdles to improving physical activity in Charlotte, N.C. Katrina discusses some programs affiliated with Presbyterian Healthcare aimed at helping people live healthier and fitter lives, including the Cancer Rehabilitation and Wellness Center.
The metropolitan area of Charlotte ranked 34th in the 2010 data report.
NiCole Keith, PhD, FACSM, discusses the state of health and fitness in Indianapolis. Dr. Keith gives particular attention to the role of public transportation on health and fitness and a built environment that encourages physical activity. Indianapolis ranked 44th in the 2010 data report.
Dr. Keith is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI) and an affiliated research scientist in the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at Regenstrief Institute.
Chad Asplund, MD, FACSM, comments on the state of health and fitness in Columbus, OH. Dr. Asplund, a family physician and competitive cyclist, says the city is striving to be a more bike-friendly community. Columbus ranked 35th in the 2010 data report. As a physician, Asplund advises his patients that exercise is good medicine.
Stella Volpe, PhD, FACSM, talks about the state of health and fitness in Philadelphia. Dr. Volpe says Philadelphia is not as active of a city as it could be. Philadelphia ranked 23d in the 2010 data report and has one of the highest obesity rates in the country.
Dr. Volpe shares some findings from a study on the top barriers to physical activity among Philadelphia residents. She also mentions the problems with “supermarket deserts.”
Dr. Volpe, a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, is a nutritionist and exercise physiologist whose work on obesity prevention, body composition, bone mineral density, and mineral metabolism and exercise represent a ten-year track record of consistent funding.
Dr. Volpe is a core member of the Biobehavioral Research Center, an associated faculty member of the Center for Health Disparities in the School of Nursing, an associate scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, an associate faculty member in the Graduate Program in Public Health, a co-director in Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research on Health Disparities, and Training (EXPORT), and a member of the Penn Diabetes Center, all in the School of Medicine. She is also a faculty associate in the Penn Institute for Urban Research, an interdisciplinary Center at Penn, and a senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at Penn.
Dr. Volpe’s research revolves around the effects of the environment on obesity – both how the environment can be changed to prevent obesity, and how the environment has resulted in a more obese nation and world. Her interventions include changing portion sizes in cafeterias and making physical activity more a part of a person’s day to implement changes in behavior. She has also conducted a number of studies on mineral metabolism and how it affects exercise, thyroid hormone function, bone mineral density, and body weight. Dr. Volpe is a faculty member of the Physiology of the Body Compartment Fellowship Program in the Department of Neuroscience, Human Nutrition and Food at the Universita Degli Studi “Tor Vergata”, Roma, Italia.
In this edition of From the Field, Advisory Board Member Roseann Lyle, PhD, FACSM, comments on what makes the ACSM American Fitness Index data report a unique measure of health and community fitness.
Dr. Lyle emphasizes the importance for communities to create an environment that makes it easier for people to make healthy choices. She also notes the interdependence of public transportation, healthy eating habits, regular physical activity, and policies that discourage smoking on community health.
Lyle also shares information about an initiative in her community, Healthy Active Tippecanoe, aimed at improving the health and quality of life for people living in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
Lyle is a professor of public health at the Purdue University Department of Health and Kinesiology. She serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity and is a member of the Active Aging Partnership, which directs ongoing initiatives of the Blueprint for Increasing Activity among Adults over 50.
M. “Dot” Fullwood talks about the state of health and fitness in the San Francisco/Bay area, which ranked 8th in the 2010 ACSM American Fitness Index.
Fullwood, a graduate student at the Health Equity Institute at San Francisco State University, touches on efforts to improve physical activity in the Bay area and the need to change perceptions about physical activity across different socio-economic groups.
Fullwood is active in the Sunday Streets San Francisco program. Sunday Streets offers free and fun physical activity space to all San Franciscans and provides open space in neighborhoods that lack such space currently. Local businesses also benefit from increased pedestrian and bicycle traffic along commercial corridors. The events provide a model of how cities can provide healthy, environmental friendly outdoor activities for their residents. Check out Sunday Streets San Francisco on Facebook and Twitter.
Sarah Pedersen talks about what makes Boston a physically active city in this episode of From the Field. Boston ranked 2nd in the 2010 ACSM American Fitness Index data report.
Sarah also talks about some programs in near Tufts University aimed at improving health and community fitness. Sarah is a PhD student in International Nutrition at Cornell University.
In this interview, John Jakicic, PhD, FACSM, explains one of the goals of the ACSM American Fitness Index. Dr. Jakicic is a professor and chair of the Department of Health and Physical Activity at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a leading scholar in this area of physical activity and weight control.
Dr. Jakicic also comments on the state of health and fitness in Pittsburgh and areas of success for that community and those that could be improved.
Dr. Jakicic serves as the coordinator for “America on the Move in Pittsburgh”, part of a national program to improve the health of children and adults through modest increases in physical activity and modest reductions in dietary intake. The initiative is a collaboration of academic, corporate, medical, and community organizations throughout the Greater Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania region.
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