Research shows that children who live near safe, accessible parks or playgrounds are more active. Communities that support the creation, rehabilitation and maintenance of parks, playgrounds, and recreation facilities, especially in underserved residential areas, will help children and families lead healthier lives.
Designing sidewalks, paths and trails to deter crime and enhance safety also will make it easier for residents to walk and bike to school and work. The following resources provide some evidence and descriptions about what works to make communities more active, healthier places to live.
Issue Briefs & Highlights
Research Briefs & Highlights
Policy Briefs & Highlights
Guides
Case Studies
Reports
Publications
Tools & Toolkits
Web Sites
Issue Briefs & Highlights
Building a National Program
This commentary focuses on program sustainability from the perspective of the ALbD national program office (NPO). Additional articles 1–15 presented in this supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine address program sustainability from the perspective of the ALbD community partnerships (grantees).
http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/AJPM
Best Practices from the Field
The Active Living by Design (ALbD) was a community grant program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), which was established to help 25 communities create environments that support active living. This is a review of their lessons and successes.
http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/AJPM
Making the Link from Transportation to Physical Activity and Obesity
This Active Living Research brief summarizes the most up-to-date research showing that transportation investments encourage healthful activity. It details how increasing access to public transportation, making streets and sidewalks safer, and developing trails and bike lanes impact people’s health and how much they bike and walk for transportation. Among other findings, the research brief concludes that public transit use is linked with higher levels of physical activity and lower rates of obesity. Click here to read the research brief.
The Regional Response to Federal Funding for Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects
This report, funded by Active Living Research examines how and to what extent regions across the country have used federal transportation funding to improve pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. The report documents a wide variation in regional spending: among the 50 largest metropolitan areas, the five top-spending regions invested almost seven times as much per capita as the five lowest spenders. The report identified five key factors that help explain the difference. Click here to read the executive summary.
Transportation Solutions to Create Active, Healthy Counties
County officials, in particular local transportation leaders, can help prevent childhood obesity. By increasing safe routes to school, building trails and bike paths, enhancing bicyclist and pedestrian safety, and improving public transportation, they can make their counties healthier, more active communities. This brief provides guidance on each of these four strategies.
http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=New_Technical_Assistance&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=27724
Planning and Land Use Solutions to Create Active, Healthy Communities
County planners and land use officials have many tools at their disposal to help build healthier, more active communities. These local officials can influence neighborhood development, zoning regulations, and use of agricultural lands, and insure that health leaders are included in all such discussions. This brief provides guidance on how to address these issues most effectively.
http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=New_Technical_Assistance&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=29155
Research Briefs & Highlights
Designing for Active Living among Children
This research summary provides a detailed presentation of recent findings on how elements of community design impact children's physical activity levels. The brief also identifies promising strategies for reducing childhood obesity.
http://www.activelivingresearch.org/files/Built_Design.pdf
Designing to Reduce Childhood Obesity
This research summary provides some of the evidence on what environmental factors are related to physical activity among children. It also provides guidance on how communities can change their local environments to help children be more active.
http://www.activelivingresearch.org/files/childhoodobesity021105.pdf
Designed for Disease: The Link between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes
This study by PolicyLink, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy examines the correlation between the health of nearly 40,000 Californians and the mix of retail food outlets near their homes. The key finding: people living in neighborhoods crowded with fast-food and convenience stores but relatively few grocery or produce outlets are at significantly higher risk of suffering from obesity and diabetes.
http://www.policylink.org/documents/DesignedforDisease.pdf
Parks, Playgrounds and Active Living
This Active Living Research synthesissummarizes a growing body of evidence concerning the role of parks in shaping active lifestyles across a variety of study populations, including children, seniors, lower-income families, specific racial and ethnic groups and other populations at high risk of being inactive.
http://www.activelivingresearch.org/files/Synthesis_Mowen_Feb2010.pdf
Policy Briefs & Highlights
Complete Streets
This brief describes the benefits of complete street policies for states trying to alleviate traffic congestion, accommodate multiple types of transportation methods and improve community health by increasing opportunities for physical activity. The brief also highlights states that have successfully passed complete streets legislation.
http://www.leadershipforhealthycommunities.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98
Guides
Active Living Resource Guide: An Annotated Resource Book for Built Environment and Physical Activity
The annotated resource book for Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities includes a variety of resources for communities working on physical activity and the build environment. The guide is organized by different topic areas, some of which include: Youth Engagement, Safety and Crime, and Land Use and Transportation. It also includes action tools and a list of organizations working to build the connection between physical activity and the built environment.
http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/events-resources/resources/annotated-resource-book-built-environment-and-physical-activity
Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities: Healthy Eating Resource Guide
This annotated resource guide provides a listing of relevant programs, organizations, tools and presentations intended to support healthy eating via community design.
http://activelivingbydesign.org/events-resources/resources/healthy-kids-healthy-communities-healthy-eating-resource-guide
Establishing a Safe Routes to School State Network: A 10-Step Guide
A guide published by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership that describes how to bring together diverse partners to initiate policy changes that will make it safer and easier for children to be able to walk and bicycle to schools.
http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/media/file/SRTS_10stepguide_State_Network.pdf
Increasing Active Living: A Guide for Policy-makers
This guide explains how the built environment—street layout, zoning and recreation facilities, among other design elements—can either encourage or discourage routine physical activity. The guide also outlines how expanding opportunities for physical activity, especially in neighborhoods with few existing options, can improve the health of communities.
http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/activelivinglhc2007.pdf
Communities Helping Children Be Healthy
Low-socioeconomic racial and ethnic minorities and rural residents have a significantly higher risk for overweight and obesity. This guide to reducing childhood obesity in low-income African American, Latino and Native American communities helps to increase our understanding of these issues.
http://www.rwjf.org/files/publications/HealthyChildren.pdf
Mayors’ Guide to Fighting Childhood Obesity
The United States Conference of Mayors developed a guide to educate mayors about specific policies they can adopt to address childhood obesity in underserved populations. The guide offers actions mayors can take to address childhood obesity and promote healthy eating/active living in their communities and provides local examples of such policies. It also contains a large resource section with information on funding opportunities, online resources, and other pertinent items of interest to mayors and their staff.
http://usmayors.org/chhs/healthycities/
Case Studies
Harlem Children’s Zone
Provides an overview highlighting the components of this multipronged, place-based approach to developing health neighborhoods.
http://www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webfm_send/19
Health Impact Assessment in San Francisco
Highlights San Francisco’s use of a Health Impact Assessment to develop the
Healthy Development Measurement Tool, which provides the health rationales for community development policy and design.
http://www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webfm_send/20
Metro Denver Health and Wellness Commission
Highlights the formation of this commission and the components of its strategic plan in seeking to boost economic growth by improving health, lowering healthcare costs, and increasing productivity.
http://www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webfm_send/21
Youth Uprising
Highlights a successful collaborative effort to build healthy and economically
robust communities by harnessing the leadership of young people to become agents of positive change.
http://www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webfm_send/22
The Greening of Los Angeles
Describes how a group of diverse organizations have been able to work together to build more parks for neighborhoods that need them most.
http://www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webfm_send/23
Considering Health in the General Plan
Highlights an innovative endeavor by one city to integrate a health policy element directly into the city’s general plan.
http://www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webfm_send/25
Reports
Shaping a Healthier Generation: Successful State Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices released this report that examines what states are currently doing to prevent obesity and encourage children to eat healthier and be more active in various settings including early childhood care and education, communities and health care settings. A justification of these settings is included as well as short chapters examining current state efforts in each.
www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0909HEALTHIERGENERATION.PDF
Shaping a Healthier Generation: Successful State Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity
This report examines what states are currently doing to prevent obesity and encourage children to eat healthier and be more active in various settings including early childhood care and education, communities and health care settings. A justification of these settings is included as well as short chapters examining current state efforts in each.
http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0909HEALTHIERGENERATION.PDF
Healthy Food For All: Building Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems in Detroit and Oakland Healthy Food For All: Building Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems in Detroit and Oakland, a new report by PolicyLink, the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University, and the Fair Food Network, shows clearly that our food system – from farm to table to landfill – is broken, unhealthy, unsustainable, and unjust.
The report not only highlights residents' struggles, it also lifts up the successes we've seen driven by residents, advocates, and community groups. Promising strategies showcased in the report include: developing or attracting new neighborhood grocery stores; expanding local food production through urban farms and community gardens; enabling the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at farmers’ markets; establishing food policy councils; and linking low-income residents to jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in food businesses.
Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, released by the Centers for Disease Control, published this study which is a set of comprehensive recommendations to promote healthy eating and active living and reduce the prevalence of obesity in the United States. The report contains 24 recommended obesity prevention strategies focusing on environmental and policy level change initiatives that can be implemented by local governments and school districts. The strategies address promoting the availability of healthy food and beverages, encouraging healthy food choice, breastfeeding and physical activity. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5807a1.htm
To assist local governments, states, and policy makers implement the CDC recommended obesity prevention strategies and report on the associated measurements a detailed Implementation and Measurement Guide was developed. The guide includes measurement data protocols, a listing of useful resources, and examples of communities that successfully implemented each obesity prevention strategy. The Implementation and Measurement Guide is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/downloads/community_strategies_guide.pdf
The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Transportation Reform in America
This report by PolicyLink and Prevention Institute, commissioned by the Convergence Partnership, is a policy guide that analyzes the intersection of transportation, health and equity. This report provides key policy and program recommendations that can improve health outcomes in vulnerable communities, create economic opportunity and enhance environmental quality. http://www.convergencepartnership.org/atf/cf/%7B245a9b44-6ded-4abd-a392-ae583809e350%7D/TRANSPORTATIONRX.PDF
F as in Fat 2009: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America*
This annual report from Trust for America’s Health examines obesity rates in each state, as well as the policies state and local governments are enacting to help address the problem. Although many promising policies have emerged to promote physical activity and good nutrition in communities, the report concludes that they are not being adopted or implemented at levels needed to turn around this health crisis.
http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2009/Obesity2009Report.pdf
F as in Fat 2008: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America
This annual report from Trust for America’s Health examines obesity rates in each state, as well as the policies state and local governments are enacting to help address the problem. Although many promising policies have emerged to promote physical activity and good nutrition in communities, the report concludes that they are not being adopted or implemented at levels needed to turn around this health crisis.
http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2008/
Balance: A Report on State Action to Promote Nutrition, Increase Physical Activity and Prevent Obesity
The Balance report summarizes the key legislative and non-legislative action and trends of 2007. It includes information on active living and healthy eating initiatives in schools and communities, and how state policies progressed during the previous year.
http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/product.jsp?id=31471
Safe Routes to School: 2007 State of the States Report
The 2007 State of the States report tracks states' progress on implementing the $612 million federal Safe Routes to School program that Congress included in the 2005 SAFETEA-LU federal transportation bill. The report includes an executive summary, program needs, early success stories of action at the local level, observations and resources. A particularly valuable element of the report is a one-page "State of the States" matrix, featuring an overview of how all states are doing in achieving the following milestones: hiring a full-time state SRTS coordinator, developing an advisory committee, releasing application guidelines, and selecting and awarding projects that have submitted proposals for SRTS.
http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/media/file/rpt_SRTSstates2007.pdf
Promising Strategies for Creating Healthy Eating and Active Living Environments
This report offers a comprehensive and cross-cutting review of policy, strategy, and program recommendations to realize the vision of healthy people in healthy places. Prevention Institute developed this document for the Convergence Partnership after conducting extensive research and numerous interviews with diverse stakeholders and constituencies. Promising Strategies provides a menu of options for various audiences to advance or expand environmental change and policy strategies.
http://www.convergencepartnership.org/atf/cf/%7B245A9B44-6DED-4ABD-A392-AE583809E350%7D/CP_Promising%20Strategies_printed.pdf
Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities: School and Local Government Collaborations
This document provides examples of cities, counties and school districts working together to address childhood obesity. It offers ideas and guidance that will help local government officials leverage community resources and identify opportunities for collaboration. It also provides resources and references to assist policy-makers in developing and implementing new initiatives.
http://www.leadershipforhealthycommunities.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=116
Why Place Matters: Building the Movement for Healthy Communities
Where you live determines how well you live, and available resources are not equally distributed. Communities of color and low-income communities face harmful community environments, such as poverty, toxins, or economic disinvestment, that compromise individual and community health. The framework described in this report provides a way to understand the relationship between community conditions and health, analyzes the connections among all the environmental factors that contribute to a healthy community, and identifies environmental effects on community health.
http://www.policylink.org/documents/WhyPlaceMattersreport_web.pdf
The Impact of the Built Environment on Health
The way we plan, shape and create our urban environment impacts the health of the people who live, work, play and move through these communities. The symptoms of poorly planned neighborhoods are often poor health outcomes. Communities of color and low-income communities face disproportionally greater health impacts related to poor land use planning. There is an effort, by the field of public health, to integrate health considerations into planning and land use to yield improved health outcomes. This report provides both a framework for understanding the necessary elements for building a movement for policy change and better planning, as well as numerous illustrations of innovative practices, projects and networks of advocates and professionals.
http://www.policylink.org/documents/builtenvironment_final.pdf
Regional Development and Physical Activity
Where you live can affect your health. Increasingly, advocates and researchers are drawing attention to the impact of neighborhood development and infrastructure on health, and are working to promote strategies that improve neighborhood conditions. This paper identifies community-driven approaches to improve neighborhoods so that residents can lead active, healthy lives. http://www.policylink.org/pdfs/PhysicalActivity.pdf
Reducing Health Disparities Through a Focus on Communities
This report highlights policies and practices aimed at reducing health disparities-the higher incidence of certain diseases and conditions, including asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, and infant mortality—in low-income communities and communities of color.
A Place for Healthier Living
This issue brief discusses a multi-level approach to improving diet and activity, one that considers for example how schools and stores affect diet and how zoning and public safety affect exercise. It describes a variety of successful community-level and legislative actions that can serve as models, and makes broad recommendations for further policy and action. Co-published with the Joint Center Health Policy Institute.
Building Stronger Communities for Better Health
Public debates on the lagging health status of people of color often focus on the need for better access to health care. This is certainly an unmet need, but something else is needed as well if lingering health disparities are to end: a simultaneous focus on community environments. This issue brief discusses how a broader approach to prevention and health promotion can contribute to reducing health disparities.
YMCA/Pioneering Healthier Communities: Lessons Learned
Pioneering Healthier Communities (PHC), is the signature initiative of Activate America that focuses on policy and environmental change in communities
to promote healthy lifestyles. Great lessons and strides have been made in the communities participating in PHC. The initiatives described in the
report below illustrate advances in creating awareness, providing opportunities and removing barriers to healthier lifestyles. They may serve as models, and as inspiration, for future PHC teams and others committed to healthier
communities.
http://www.ymca.net/downloads/aa_phc_lessons_learned_report.pdfPublications:
American Journal of Preventive Medicine Special Issue
This December 2009 issue focuses on the best practices and lessons learned by the organization Active Living by Design.
www.activelivingbydesign.org/AJPM
Tools & Toolkits:
Active Living Research, Research Results Summary Slides
This set of PowerPoint slide sets represent research findings on topics related to obesity, physical activity, and the social and built environments. Each set of is grouped by the year in which results were published. http://www.activelivingresearch.org/resourcesearch/resultslides
Active Neighborhood Checklist
An objective, reliable and practical checklist to help residents, advocacy and community groups and local government officials determine whether their neighborhood streets are activity friendly. The checklist helps users rate their communities on land use, public recreational facilities, public transportation and quality of the environment. This assessment tool is unique because researchers collaborated with community members to develop the checklist, making it easier to use than some other existing tools.
http://prc.slu.edu/iafc.htm
System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth (SOPLAY)
Developed by San Diego State University, SOPLAY is a tool for assessing how and in what environments children and adults are physically active during free play and leisure time.
http://www.activelivingresearch.org/node/10642
Walkability Checklist
Developed by Partnership for a Walkable America, Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this checklist can help users decide if their neighborhood is a friendly place to walk. After users go through the checklist, they can get tips on how to improve their neighborhood’s walkability.
http://www.walkableamerica.org/checklist-walkability.pdf
Bikability Checklist
Funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and developed with the help of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center and U.S. Department of Transportation, this tool can help users figure out if their community is safe and friendly for cyclists. After users go through the checklist, they can get tips on how to improve their community’s bikability.
http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/pdf/bikabilitychecklist.pdf
Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) Instrument
The PARA is a brief, one-page, check-box instrument used to assess the type, features, amenities and quality of a variety of physical activity resources (e.g., parks, churches, schools, sports facilities, fitness centers, community centers and trails).
http://www.activelivingresearch.org/node/10638
Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT)
ENACT is a hands-on assessment and planning resource for organizations, coalitions, schools and communities that are trying to improve their nutrition and physical activity environments. It was created by the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments, and the tool can be used on a yearly basis to evaluate past and current efforts around nutrition and physical activity improvements and offer new priorities for the year ahead.
http://www.preventioninstitute.org/sa/enact/members/index.php
Moving to the Future
This is a tool to help users develop local programs that will successfully support healthier eating and more physical activity. It includes guidelines on how to conduct a community assessment; appropriately determine the priorities; and create, implement and evaluate a plan.
http://www.movingtothefuture.org/
Community Toolbox
The Community Toolbox can help users build communities that are healthier in many ways. It is a place where people who have created changes in their communities can share their strategies and tools with those starting their own efforts.
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/Default.htm
Getting the Lay of the Land
This tool provides guidelines for small-group activity with community stakeholders to identify local issues related to healthy eating and active living. It can be useful at the start of a project to get a sense of the major issues that may emerge in the community. It can help community members recognize the value of a community approach to obesity prevention, including description of the obstacles to physical activity that residents may face. The tool was developed by Cornell University.
http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/obesity/PDFs/LayofLand.pdf
Combating Childhood Obesity Action Kit
This toolkit from the National League of Cities contains research and practices from across the nation. It offers a wide-ranging menu of opportunities for municipal leadership to make children, youth and family issues a community-wide priority. Whether you are ready to launch a major initiative or are just getting started, the ideas in this toolkit will help you move forward.
http://www.nlc.org/ASSETS/FC9AD61015584D1789198583E6C888E8/IYEF_Action_Kit_Childhood_Obesity.pdf
Transit Oriented Development
TOD is a planning and design trend that seeks to create compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented communities located around new or existing public transit stations. This tool focuses on how to implement TOD in a way that achieves equity goals.
http://www.policylink.org/documents/TODTool_FINAL.pdf
Transportation and Health 101 (Convergence Partnership)
This toolkit helps health advocates better understand transportation issues and their related health connections, as well as help inform transportation advocates on the importance of health in their work.
http://www.convergencepartnership.org/site/c.fhLOK6PELmF/b.4950415/k.4FF...
Leadership for Healthy Communities Action Strategies Toolkit
This toolkit contains targeted strategies, key stakeholder lists, policy and program options, directions on how to start programs, resources that can help inform the process and examples of how other states and localities have achieved progress. It features direct links to each of the policy and program options, as well as getting started tips, resources, examples and a glossary defining key terms. This kit is a comprehensive guide for state, local and school district policy-makers working to create healthier communities and prevent childhood obesity.
www.leadershipforhealthycommunities.org\actionstrategies.
Web Sites
PolicyLink Center for Health and Place
Where you live affects how you live. A range of socioeconomic and environmental conditions — such as income, segregation, pollution, crime, availability of fresh foods and safe recreational facilities, and accessible quality housing — have dramatic impacts on individual and community health. The center’s work advances policies that eliminate adverse neighborhood conditions. Key strategies include technical training and capacity building, policy advocacy, and communications training for advocates working to create healthier communities. Reports and toolkits are created, informed by data-rich studies and the experience of local constituencies, and shared with broad audiences.
http://www.policylink.org/HealthAndPlace/
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