Info Monthly October 2010

Colleagues, friends,

Here is the “Info Monthly” for October 2010 in three parts:

A. News, i.e. print and electronic media stories, usually bylined
B. Reports, Essays, Commentaries, Policy Briefs, now including the National Academy of Sciences pubs
C. Research and Reviews: peer-reviewed journal articles

I trust that you will skim these contents for the pieces that matter to you.

Thanks for all you do.

Robert H. Ross, PhD
Scientific Director, Maine-Harvard Prevention Research Center at the University of New England
October 20, 2010

A. News

1. Think recess. HealthDay News, September 28, 2010. Think recess, and you'll probably smile. What wasn't to like about a break in the school day set aside for running and playing, for friends and fun? Now fast-forward to your adult life. What if your workplace started offering recess on the job? Some medical experts think it's not only a good idea but possibly one of the most solid tactics dreamed up for getting an increasingly out-of-shape America up and moving. Adult recess would involve a 10-minute break in the workday, when employees would be led through a series of fun routines involving dance and sports-like moves. Read more.
2. Walking or biking to work can be a great way to get exercise. By Vicky Hallett. Washington Post. Thursday, October 7, 2010.
3. Healthy Lifestyle Newsletter. Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity
   October 13, 2010 Powerpoint presentation Healthy Communities: What Local Governments Can Do to Reduce and Prevent Obesity
   This presentation's intended audience is local government staff (e.g., city managers; council members; county commissioners; urban and transportation planners; redevelopment administrators; zoning officials; local school district staff and public health practitioners) who want to build the case for investing in obesity prevention at the community level. The "Healthy Communities, Local Government" PowerPoint presentation provides the following: * The prevalence, disease burden, and economic cost of the U.S. obesity epidemic and how local government is part of the solution. * Specific examples of what CDC means when we talk about policy and environmental change initiatives to address obesity. * The advantages and impact of population based approaches to prevent obesity. * Accompanying notes that can be read by the presenter, or used to guide the conversation about the slides. In addition, the presentation highlights the development and release of CDC's Recommended Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the U.S. 
    and explains the project methodology and how local governments can use the Implementation and Measurement Guide.
4. Physical Education Gets Makeover In Local Schools. St. Charles Republican, September 19, 2010. A new physical education curriculum in Community Consolidated School District 93 has middle-school students working out their bodies and their minds. School officials are combining the historically separate health and physical education classes into one course, called physical development.  “As students are doing their physical education classes, physical education teachers will instruct them on healthy lifestyles and good choices with eating,” Superintendent William R. Shields said. “A teacher might say, ‘Let’s discuss how this (exercise) helps you develop.’”  
5. New Study Shows Physical Activity Beneficial At Any Age. Daily Vidette, September 19, 2010. A new study in the Journal Frontiers of Aging Neuroscience shows that exercise, although beneficial physically in persons young and old, is especially beneficial for one’s cognitive health.  While adolescents are learning new concepts every day, adults require physical activity to keep brain cells firing and to combat against aging.  Sharon Warren, training resource specialist for Polar, a physical activity accessory company, gives clients physical benefits that include bone density, loss of body fat, increased cardiovascular system, better posture and better breathing.  She also provides cognitive advantages such as new brain cells forming, becoming more focused and less fatigued.
6. Portland's Bike Coordinator Wheels and Deals. The Portland Press Herald, September 20, 2010. Making sure schools have enough bike racks is not the kind of big transportation initiative that rises to the top of anyone's agenda. That might explain why schools in Portland have gone years without enough racks to meet demand. Some don't have any.  Using funds from a federal grant aimed at reducing obesity rates, the city of Portland now has a new staff person whose job is to focus on these kinds of details as part of a more ambitious effort to make Portland a safer place for people to walk and ride their bikes.
7. MSU Profs Develop Sensor For Physical Activity Data. State News, September 20, 2010. Professors in the departments of electrical engineering and kinesiology have partnered together in an effort to learn more about how the human body reacts to physical activity to better improve overall health.  The research involves the development and testing of a new type of wearable multi-sensors, developed by MSU engineering professor Subir Biswas.  Using multi-sensor technology has proven to provide more accurate results. The technology employs three different sensors that are placed on the wrist, ankle and upper arm, he said.  “Once the sensors are in place they measure certain things including acceleration, proximity and posture and how they all work together and affect one another,” Biswas said.
8. Link Between Children's Brain Development And Physical Fitness. Medical News Today, September 20, 2010. Researchers have found an association between physical fitness and the brain in 9- and 10-year-old children: Those who are more fit tend to have a bigger hippocampus and perform better on a test of memory than their less-fit peers.  The new study, which used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the relative size of specific structures in the brains of 49 child subjects, appears in the journal Brain Research.  "This is the first study I know of that has used MRI measures to look at differences in brain between kids who are fit and kids who aren't fit," said University of Illinois psychology professor and Beckman Institute director Art Kramer, who led the study with doctoral student Laura Chaddock and kinesiology and community health professor Charles Hillman. "Beyond that, it relates those measures of brain structure to cognition."
9. Household Items Can Help Child Become Active. The Wichita Eagle, September 21, 2010. As a parent, you want to provide plenty of physical activity for your child. But if expensive equipment just isn't in your budget, look no farther than around your house for loads of fun equipment that can turn a bored child into a creative, active mover.  Developmentally, children need creative play and the opportunity to increase fitness levels and develop motor skills that will help them be active throughout their lifetime. During a recent physical education class, I described to my students what activities children played before there were more than 400 channels on TV, prompting one student to ask if that was "during the Roman days?"
10. Heavenly Body: Donna Richardson Makes Every Healthy Move A Leap Of Faith. The Washington Post, September 21, 2010. As arduous as exercise can be, and as ardently as yoga class namastes stress the body-spirit connection, and as often as one wishes to take the Lord's name in vain during the third set of squat-thrusts, it was only a matter of time before someone put it all together: Enter "Body Gospel."  "Can you feel His presence?" asks the chipper fitness instructor on the new workout DVD, available for $79.90 ("Give Praise. Get Results"). Right now, she is demonstrating Hallelujah Hands -- a move that combines a side squat with an arm scoop -- which are not to be confused with Praise Arms, Praise Lunges or the Praise Run. "It's all about combining God's love and fitness!"
11. Physical Inactivity ‘Is Costing The Country €1.6bn Every Year’. The Irish Examiner, September 22, 2010. Physical inactivity is costing Ireland around €1.6 billion per year, a health expert warned yesterday. And the cost was likely to increase, with almost seven out of ten (69%) adults not meeting the Department of Health’s recommended levels of physical activity.  "Industry, Government and citizens all have a part to play in tackling this ticking time bomb," Dr Muireann Cullen, manager of the Nutrition and Health Foundation (NHF) stressed yesterday.  Britain is currently spending 11% of its health budget on the negative results of physical inactivity.
12. Dogs Can Encourage Children To Be Active, Help Combat Rising Childhood Obesity. The Medical News, September 22, 2010. Children whose families own dogs are more active than those without, according to new research. Researchers from St George's, University of London studied 2,065 children aged nine to ten, and found that children from dog-owning families have higher levels of physical activity compared to children without.  The team says owning a dog could encourage more children to be active, and help combat rising childhood obesity.
13. Study Shows Physical And Mental Health Benefits Of Sports Participation In Adolescents. The Medical News, September 22, 2010.Taking part in sports is good all round for young teens: physically, socially, and mentally, according to a new study by Dr. Keith Zullig and Rebecca White from West Virginia University in the US. Their research shows that middle-school teenagers who are physically active and play on sports teams are more satisfied with their life and feel healthier. Zullig and White's paper is published online in Springer's journal Applied Research in Quality of Life.  Although the benefits of physical activity are well documented among teenagers, middle school children are an understudied population in adolescent physical activity research. The authors explored the relationship between physical activity (including sports participation), life satisfaction and self-rated health concurrently, for the first time, among 245 middle school students in grades 7 and 8.
14. Physical Fitness: It's a Team Effort. Huffington Post, September 22, 2010. Coca Cola ... Anthem Blue Cross ... CVS/pharmacy ... Kaiser Permanente...General Mills...  To some, this might sound like an odd grouping of companies. But given my experiences over the past five years, I can tell you that they are all committed to being part of the solution when it comes to childhood obesity. As Chairman of the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, I have been leading a program to get California's kids off the couch and outside for some exercise. When Governor Schwarzenegger first asked me to serve in 2006, we agreed that we needed to do something transformational for our kids, who were at great risk of obesity-related health problems. We came up with two simple initiatives: the Governor's Fitness Challenge, where kids pledge to be active for 30 to 60 minutes every other day for a month, and our Spotlight awards, which honor the unsung heroes in our state who promote physical education, physical fitness and good nutrition and health.

B. Reports, Essays, Commentaries, Policy briefs

1. Tackling the growth of the obesity literature: obesity evidence spreads across many journals. L A Baier, N L Wilczynski and R B Haynes. Abstract Article
2. 2009 SMART BRFSS Data and Prevalence Tables and 2009 BRFSS MAPS Now Available. The health of your workforce likely mirrors that of the community surrounding your workplace. How healthy is your state, county, or town? How common is heart disease, asthma, and arthritis among your region’s population? Find out the answer to these questions and more from the just-released 2009 data of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss-smart/index.asp and http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/gisbrfss/default.aspx.

C. Research and Reviews

1. Child overweight/obesity

1.1. Determinants, Risk factors, Co-occurring conditions
1.1.1. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a challenge for pediatricians. K Widhalm and E Ghods.
Abstract
Article
1.1.2. Obese boys at increased risk for nonalcoholic liver disease: evaluation of 16 390 overweight or obese children and  adolescents. S Wiegand, K-M Keller, M Robl, D l'Allemand, T Reinehr, K Widhalm and R W Holl on behalf of the APV-Study Group and the German Competence Network Adipositas
Abstract 
Article
1.1.3. Child-care use and the association with body mass index and overweight in children from 7 months to 2 years of age. J S Gubbels, S P J Kremers, A Stafleu, P C Dagnelie, N K de Vries, S van Buuren and C Thijs.
Abstract
Article
1.1.4. Infant temperament and eating style predict change in standardized weight status and obesity risk at 6 years of age. M S Faith and J B Hittner.
Abstract 
Article
1.1.5. Rice DC, Lincoln R, Martha J, Parker L, Pote K, Xing S, Smith AE. Concentration of metals in blood of Maine children 1-6 years old. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2010 Jul 28. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20664650. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20664650
1.1.6. Riederer AM, Pearson MA, Lu C. Comparison of food consumption frequencies among NHANES and CPES children: Implications for dietary pesticide exposure and risk assessment. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2009 Sep 9. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 19738638. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19738638
1.1.7. Ford PB, Dzewaltowski DA. Limited supermarket availability is not associated with obesity risk among participants in the Kansas WIC Program. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Oct;18(10):1944-51. Epub 2010 Jan 7. PubMed PMID: 20057363. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20057363

1.2. Disparities
1.2.1. Madsen KA, Weedn AE, Crawford PB. Disparities in peaks, plateaus, and declines in prevalence of high BMI among adolescents. Pediatrics. 2010 Sep;126(3):434-42. Epub 2010 Aug 16. PubMed PMID: 20713482. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20713482
1.2.1. Siega-Riz AM, Herring AH, Carrier K, Evenson KR, Dole N, Deierlein A. Sociodemographic, perinatal, behavioral, and psychosocial predictors of weight retention at 3 and 12 months postpartum. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Oct;18(10):1996-2003. Epub 2009 Dec 24. PubMed PMID: 20035283; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2902688. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20035283

1.3. Prevalence, Incidence
1.3.1. QuickStats: Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Youths Aged 6--19 Years, by Race/Ethnicity and Sex. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 2007—2008. full text
Notifiable Diseases and Mortality Tables: full text

1.4. Physical activity and Nutrition
1.4.1. Mendoza, Jason A.; Watson, Kathy; Baranowski, Tom; Nicklas, Theresa A.; Uscanga, Doris K.; Nguyen, Nga; and Hanfling, Marcus J. (2010) "Ethnic Minority Children’s Active Commuting to School and Association with Physical Activity and Pedestrian Safety Behaviors," The Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 4. Children who walk and bike to school have a greater level of physical activity than those who use other forms of transportation, according to a paper published today in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Applied Research on Children by researchers at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center, at Baylor College of Medicine and at Texas Children’s Hospital. http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol1/iss1/4/

1.5. Intervention, Outcomes, including Cost

1.6. Measurement

2. Adult overweight/obesity

2.1. Determinants, Risk factors, Co-occurring conditions
2.1.1. Heo M, Pietrobelli A, Wang D, Heymsfield SB, Faith MS. Obesity and functional impairment: influence of comorbidity, joint pain, and mental health. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Oct;18(10):2030-8. Epub 2009 Nov 5. PubMed PMID: 19893503. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19893503
2.1.2. Coogan PF, Cozier YC, Krishnan S, Wise LA, Adams-Campbell LL, Rosenberg L, Palmer JR. Neighborhood socioeconomic status in relation to 10-year weight gain in the Black women's health study. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Oct;18(10):2064-5. Epub 2010 Apr 1. PubMed PMID: 20360755. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20360755

2.2. Disparities
2.2.1. Special Journal Issue Highlights Key Findings from 50 Years of Medical Sociology. Eleven Original Articles Illustrate Impact of Social Factors on Health and Health Care. A new, supplemental issue of the American Sociological Association’s Journal of Health and Social Behavior, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, explores the contributions that social and behavioral scientists have made in reframing public understanding of health and health care issues, including reshaping the health reform debate. Among other highlights, several of the journal articles emphasize the persistent inequalities in health and health care in the United States by social status (i.e., education, income, and occupation) as well as race and ethnicity, and demonstrate how these disparities influence the ways in which Americans use the health care system. These articles underscore the urgency of addressing health where it starts—in our homes, schools, jobs and communities. The full issue is available here.

2.3. Prevalence, Incidence

2.4. Physical activity and Nutrition
2.4.1. Bassett DR Jr, Wyatt HR, Thompson H, Peters JC, Hill JO. Pedometer-measured physical activity and health behaviors in U.S. adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Oct;42(10):1819-25. PubMed PMID: 20305579; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2927728.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20305579.
2.4.2. Juneau CE, Potvin L. Trends in leisure-, transport-, and work-related physical activity in Canada 1994-2005. Prev Med. 2010 Sep 9. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20832417. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20832417.
2.4.3. Tudor-Locke C, Johnson WD, Katzmarzyk PT. Frequently reported activities by intensity for U.S. adults: the American Time Use Survey. Am J Prev Med. 2010 Oct;39(4):e13-20. PubMed PMID: 20837277. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20837277
2.4.4. Jackson AW, Lee DC, Sui X, Morrow JR Jr, Church TS, Maslow AL, Blair SN. Muscular strength is inversely related to prevalence and incidence of obesity in adult men. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Oct;18(10):1988-95. Epub 2009 Dec 3. PubMed PMID: 19960002. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19960002

2.5. Intervention, Outcomes, including Cost
2.5.1. Look AHEAD Research Group, Wing RR. Long-term effects of a lifestyle intervention on weight and cardiovascular risk factors in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus: four-year results of the Look AHEAD trial. Arch Intern Med. 2010 Sep 27;170(17):1566-75. PubMed PMID: 20876408. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20876408

2.6. Measurement
2.6.1. Zaninotto P, Pierce M, Breeze E, de Oliveira C, Kumari M. BMI and waist circumference as predictors of well-being in older adults: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Oct;18(10):1981-7. Epub 2010 Jan 14. PubMed PMID: 20075853. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20075853