A Scoping Review of the Health Benefits of Nature-Based Physical Activity

The health benefits of physical activity and spending time in nature are well established. However, children and adults in the United States are not participating in sufficient levels of physical activity and are not spending much time outdoors. Recently, increased access to nature for the health and wellness of all populations has seen growing public health attention, though a specific focus on nature-based physical activity has been limited. The purpose of this scoping review is to operationalize the health benefits of nature-based physical activity to provide guidance to program administrators, advocates, and researchers for nature-based physical activity to facilitate collaborations. Peer-reviewed literature was searched in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, and Google Scholar as well as in published reviews of the literature. The literature was divided into three categories of: 1) amount and location of nature-based components and physical activity; 2) added health benefits of exposure to nature-based components and physical activity; and 3) nature-based components and physical activity effect on non-white, marginalized, and vulnerable populations. This review supports and encourages multiple strategies to increase nature-based physical activity as this provides even greater benefit to health and wellness than exposure to nature or physical activity alone. Although many of the physical and mental health benefits of nature and physical activity are well established, additional research is needed to better understand the relationship between exposure to nature and nature-based physical activity. However, the existing information justifies the promotion of nature-based physical activities in public health initiatives.

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Physical Activity Communication: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Health Promotion Practice ◽

10.1177/1524839919834272 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 344-353 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Caroline D. Bergeron ◽

Andrea H. Tanner ◽

Daniela B. Friedman ◽

Yue Zheng ◽

Courtney S. Schrock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Health Communication ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Science Communication ◽

Health Benefits ◽

The United States ◽

Health Science ◽

Physical Activity Guidelines ◽

The Public ◽

Media Channels

Engaging in regular physical activity can help prevent chronic disease and enhance quality of life. Unfortunately, less than 20% of American adults meet the recommended physical activity guidelines, perhaps indicating ineffective communication efforts around physical activity. In preparation for the release of the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, and using the physical activity guidelines as a cornerstone of our approach, we conducted a scoping review of physical activity communication research to understand the scholarly efforts related to communicating about physical activity. Using a social-ecological perspective, we identified studies using the keywords physical activity* OR exercise* AND health communication* in three public health and communication databases and retained studies conducted in the United States and published in English from 1995 through 2015. Sixty-seven articles included a mention of physical activity guidelines, a health communication focus, and media channels used in promoting physical activity. Half of the studies were published in health/science communication journals. One third of the studies mentioned physical activity guidelines. Only 19% of the studies featured mental health benefits of physical activity while more than 64% emphasized physical health benefits. Nearly all the studies (96%) mentioned the use of persuasion to encourage engagement in physical activity. More effort is needed to study the influence of communicating physical activity guidelines to the public. Best practices for future physical activity communication are discussed for both researchers and practitioners.

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Face Covered and Six Feet Apart: Behavioral Awareness Predicts Greater Adherence to Public Health Guidelines during the COVID-19 Pandemic

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18168247 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (16) ◽

pp. 8247

Author(s):

Alyssa Schneider ◽

Emily B. Kroska

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Psychological Flexibility ◽

The United States ◽

Future Research ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Logistic Regression Models ◽

Demographic Correlates ◽

Amazon's Mechanical Turk ◽

Predictors Of Adherence ◽

Close Contacts

The COVID-19 pandemic has deleteriously impacted physical and mental health. Guidelines to limit the spread of COVID-19 include wearing a face covering in public, limiting close contacts, and physical distancing. In combatting this and future pandemics, it is essential to understand predictors of adherence, such as psychological flexibility. We hypothesized higher psychological flexibility would relate to greater adherence to public health guidelines. Participants (n = 265) were English-reading/speaking adults in the United States and were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Included in the present analyses are data from June (n = 360) and July 2020 (n = 265). Measures included the Comprehensive Assessment of ACT Processes (CompACT), which measured psychological flexibility. Outcome measures included mask-wearing and number of close contacts, which were operationalized categorically (100% mask-wearing in public, ≤10 close contacts in past week). Two logistic regression models examined psychological flexibility and distress as predictors of adherence to mask-wearing and limiting close contacts, while controlling for demographic correlates. Results indicated that greater behavioral awareness predicted greater odds of mask-wearing and limiting close contacts. Psychological flexibility, and behavioral awareness specifically, should be investigated in future research as targets for intervention amidst global disasters.

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Health Impacts of Urban Bicycling in Mexico

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052300 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2300

Author(s):

David Rojas-Rueda

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Health Risks ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Traffic Fatalities ◽

Premature Deaths ◽

Air Pollution Exposure ◽

Pollution Exposure

Background: Bicycling has been associated with health benefits. Local and national authorities have been promoting bicycling as a tool to improve public health and the environment. Mexico is one of the largest Latin American countries, with high levels of sedentarism and non-communicable diseases. No previous studies have estimated the health impacts of Mexico’s national bicycling scenarios. Aim: Quantify the health impacts of Mexico urban bicycling scenarios. Methodology: Quantitative Health Impact Assessment, estimating health risks and benefits of bicycling scenarios in 51,718,756 adult urban inhabitants in Mexico (between 20 and 64 years old). Five bike scenarios were created based on current bike trends in Mexico. The number of premature deaths (increased or reduced) was estimated in relation to physical activity, road traffic fatalities, and air pollution. Input data were collected from national publicly available data sources from transport, environment, health and population reports, and surveys, in addition to scientific literature. Results: We estimated that nine premature deaths are prevented each year among urban populations in Mexico on the current car-bike substitution and trip levels (1% of bike trips), with an annual health economic benefit of US $1,897,920. If Mexico achieves similar trip levels to those reported in The Netherlands (27% of bike trips), 217 premature deaths could be saved annually, with an economic impact of US $45,760,960. In all bicycling scenarios assessed in Mexico, physical activity’s health benefits outweighed the health risks related to traffic fatalities and air pollution exposure. Conclusion: The study found that bicycling promotion in Mexico would provide important health benefits. The benefits of physical activity outweigh the risk from traffic fatalities and air pollution exposure in bicyclists. At the national level, Mexico could consider using sustainable transport policies as a tool to promote public health. Specifically, the support of active transportation through bicycling and urban design improvements could encourage physical activity and its health co-benefits.

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Recursive Partitioning Methods to Examine the Effects of Physical Activity on Physical and Mental Health: A Case Study at One Public University in the United States

Physical Activity and Health ◽

10.5334/paah.98 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 87-97

Author(s):

Samantha Robinson ◽

Jessica Gilmore

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Physical Activity ◽

United States ◽

Recursive Partitioning ◽

The United States ◽

Public University ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Partitioning Methods

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Acculturation and Physical Activity Among Latinos

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190215217.013.24 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Ana F. Abraído-Lanza ◽

Karen R. Flórez ◽

Rachel C. Shelton

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

United States ◽

Social Networks ◽

Socioeconomic Position ◽

Health Benefits ◽

The United States ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Research Designs ◽

Different Types ◽

The Many

Despite the many health benefits of physical activity (PA), the majority of Latinos do not meet recommended levels of PA. This chapter provides an overview of research on acculturation and PA among adult Latinos in the United States. It identifies gaps in knowledge concerning the association between acculturation and different types of PA, the joint effects of socioeconomic position and acculturation on PA, and research on gender. It suggests several areas for further research related to acculturation and PA, including an exploration of norms, social networks, and broader social contexts. It concludes that although the bulk of evidence indicates that greater acculturation is associated with increased PA, more complex research designs and greater methodological and conceptual rigor are needed to move forward research in this area.

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America’s Homelessness Crisis

Ungoverned and Out of Sight ◽

10.1093/oso/9780197548325.003.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Charley E. Willison

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Problem ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

The United States ◽

Main Question ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Governance System ◽

Chronic Homelessness ◽

Municipal Governments ◽

The Life Course

Homelessness is a public health problem. From rising housing costs to discriminatory lending and leasing, natural disasters, and mental illness, homelessness has many different causes and many similar effects: serious adverse consequences for physical and mental health across the life course. This chapter makes the case for homelessness as a public health problem, with chronic homelessness as scope of focus for this book. This chapter then introduces the main question of the book: If municipalities are the site of the U.S. homeless epidemic, what are municipal governments doing to address homelessness, and why? This chapter then outlines the role of governance structures in shaping municipal approaches to chronic homelessness, describes the governance system responsible for designing and delivering solutions to homelessness and chronic homelessness in the United States, and the history of homeless policy in America. Finally, this chapter lays the roadmap for the book and subsequent chapters.

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Pollution, Health, and the Moderating Role of Physical Activity Opportunities

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17176272 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (17) ◽

pp. 6272

Author(s):

George B. Cunningham ◽

Pamela Wicker ◽

Brian P. McCullough

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Water Pollution ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Physical Activity Behavior ◽

The United States ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Particle Matter ◽

Close Proximity ◽

Health Related ◽

Negative Effect

Air and water pollution have detrimental effects on health, while physical activity opportunities have a positive relationship. The purpose of this study was to explore whether physical activity opportunities moderate the relationships among air and water pollution, and measures of health. Aggregate data were collected at the county level in the United States (n = 3104). Variables included the mean daily density of fine particle matter (air pollution), reported cases of health-related drinking water violations (water pollution), subjective ratings of poor or fair health (overall health), the number of physically and mentally unhealthy (physical and mental health, respectively), and the percentage of people living in close proximity to a park or recreation facility (access to physical activity). Air and water pollution have a significant positive effect on all measures of residents’ poor health, while physical activity opportunities only have a negative effect on overall health and physical health. Access to physical activity only moderates the relationship between air pollution and all health outcomes. Since physical activity behavior can be more rapidly changed than some causes of pollution, providing the resident population with better access to physical activity can represent an effective tool in environmental health policy.

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Economic evaluation of ‘Men on the Move’, a ‘real world’ community-based physical activity programme for men

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa152 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Liam Kelly ◽

Michael Harrison ◽

Noel Richardson ◽

Paula Carroll ◽

Tom Egan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Economic Evaluation ◽

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Health Improvement ◽

Community Based ◽

Life Years ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Physical activity (PA) interventions capable of producing health benefits cost effectively are a public health priority across the Western world. ‘Men on the Move’ (MOM), a community-based PA intervention for men, demonstrated significant health benefits up to 52-weeks (W) post-baseline. This article details the economic evaluation of MOM with a view to determining its cost-effectiveness as a public health intervention to be rolled out nationally in Ireland. Methods Cost-effectiveness was determined by comparing the costs (direct and indirect) of the programme to its benefits, which were captured as the impact on quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). For the benefits, cost–utility analysis was conducted by retrospectively adapting various health-related measures of participants to generate health states using Brazier et al.’s (2002) short form-6D algorithm. This in turn allowed for ‘utility measures’ to be generated, from which QALYs were derived. Results Findings show MOM to be cost-effective in supporting an ‘at risk’ cohort of men achieves significant improvements in aerobic fitness, weight loss and waist reduction. The total cost per participant (€125.82 for each of the 501 intervention participants), the QALYs gained (11.98 post-12-W intervention, or 5.3% health improvement per participant) and estimated QALYs ratio costs of €3723 represents a cost-effective improvement when compared to known QALY guidelines. Conclusions The analysis shows that the cost per QALY achieved by MOM is significantly less than the existing benchmarks of £20 000 and €45 000 in the UK and Ireland respectively, demonstrating MOM to be cost-effective.

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Democratizing innovation through grass-roots entrepreneurship: lessons from efforts to address the opioid epidemic in the United States

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002079 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (6) ◽

pp. e002079

Author(s):

Shriya Srinivasan ◽

Khalil B. Ramadi ◽

Andrea Ippolito ◽

Rifat Atun

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Design Thinking ◽

The United States ◽

Opioid Epidemic ◽

Socioeconomic Indicators ◽

Opioid Crisis ◽

Health Initiatives ◽

The Usa ◽

Healthcare Innovation ◽

Depressed Regions

The nationwide opioid epidemic has substantially impacted economically-depressed regions in the USA. Eastern Appalachia has some of the lowest socioeconomic indicators in the USA and has suffered the highest rate of opioid-related fatality in 2016. Despite devoting considerable federal and state resources towards public health initiatives, the region continued to experience one of the highest death rates and sought alternative approaches to address the opioid crisis. Here, we describe a community-based co-creation initiative that convened diverse sectors and utilised design thinking principles to generate sustainable public health ventures towards addressing the opioid crisis. Participants of diverse backgrounds came together to attack key challenges and developed and implemented solutions, including a mobile application for naloxone delivery and exercise programs for high schools to promote healthy habits. Grassroots innovation efforts catalysed by the event strengthened community engagement and facilitated a sense of agency among participants. Through specific examples of initiatives that were launched, we provide evidence to encourage and highlight the value of healthcare innovation efforts in low-resource settings.

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