Delivering the Science and the Art of Health Promotion

Robert F. Allen
Symbol of HOPE
Award

Share  

Editor's Notes: How to Improve the Health and Well-Being of the United States and the World by 2025 for Only 3.1 Trillion Dollars a Year

Interventions

Genevieve F. Dunton
Renee Lagloire
Trina Robertson

Using the RE-AIM Framework to Evaluate the Statewide Dissemination of a School-Based Physical Activity and Nutrition Curriculum: “Exercise Your Options”
A pilot study in 16 middle-school classrooms examined the reach, efficacy, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of a physical activity and nutrition curriculum for middle-school students.  An eight-lesson nutrition and physical activity curriculum, "Exercise Your Options" (EYO), including a teacher guide, video clips, a student activity booklet and ancillary materials was made available to teachers. The EYO program reached 234,442 middle-school students in California. During the program, total physical activity increased, whereas watching TV/DVDs and playing electronic games/computer use decreased. Intake of dairy products increased, whereas consumption of sugars/sweets decreased. During the past five years, 51% of all middle-school students in California were exposed to the program.  The EYO program showed its potential for moderate to high public health impact among California middle-school students.

Carine Vereecken
Erwin Legiest
Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij
Lea Maes

Associations Between General Parenting Styles and Specific Food-Related Parenting Practices and Children's Food Consumption
This cross-sectional study of Belgian sixth graders and their parents aimed to assess the affects of general parenting style and specific food-related parenting practices on children’s dietary habits. Five indicators of children’s daily dietary patterns were chosen: consumption of breakfast, fruit, vegetables, soft drinks, and sweets. General parenting style did not affect children’s dietary habits. By comparison, certain specific food-related parenting practices such as permissiveness and applying pressure to eat certain foods affected children’s food habits. Children who were allowed to decide what and when to eat ate breakfast less often, ate fewer fruits and vegetables and consumed more soft drinks and sweets.

C. Keith Haddock
Jennifer E. Taylor
Kevin M. Hoffman
Walker S. C. Poston
Alan Peterson
Harry A. Lando
Suzanne Shelton

Factors Which Influence Tobacco Use Among Junior Personnel Enlisted in the United States Army and Air Force: A Formative Research Study
This study provides the first formative data on the culture of tobacco in the U.S. Military. A total of 15 focus groups on six military installations were conducted (N = 189). These military installations were located throughout the continental United States, and were of average size for each service. Participants suggested that the primary method the military uses to discourage tobacco use is tobacco bans. Unfortunately, they also believed that the military accommodates tobacco use so that smoking remains convenient despite the bans on tobacco use. Smoking was believed to be encouraged through liberal smoking breaks, social interaction within designated smoking areas, and cheap and convenient tobacco products sold on military installations. Further, smoking was seen as an effective method to combat the stress and boredom of military life and to avoid weight gain. Suggestions for addressing the culture of tobacco are discussed.

Applications

Health Promoting Community Design

Ming Wen
Xingyou Zhang

Contextual Effects of Built and Social Environments of Urban Neighborhoods on Exercise: A Multilevel Study in Chicago
This cross-sectional study assessed the effects of neighborhood built and social environments on exercise. Respondents living in neighborhoods with more access to restaurants and bars were more likely to report exercising or working out between one and four times weekly compared with those having less access to these amenities. Access to restaurants and bars and neighborhood social environment were both significantly associated with the likelihood of reporting regular exercise in the past year. The beneficial effects of neighborhood social environment were stronger for women than for men.

Shannon N. Zenk
Laurie L. Lachance
Amy J. Schulz
Graciela Mentz
Srimathi Kannan
William Ridella

Neighborhood Retail Food Environment and Fruit and Vegetable Intake in a Multiethnic Urban Population
This study examined relationships between the neighborhood food environment and fruit and vegetable intake in 146 neighborhoods within three large geographic communities of Detroit, Michigan.  Study variables included fruit and vegetable consumption, store availability, supermarket proximity, and perceived and observed neighborhood fresh fruit and vegetable supply.  Presence of a large grocery store in the neighborhood was associated with 0.69 more daily fruit and vegetable servings in the full sample.  Relationships between the food environment and fruit and vegetable intake did not differ between Whites and African-Americans.  However, Latinos compared with African-Americans with a large grocery store in their neighborhood consumed 2.20 more daily servings of fruits and vegetables. 

Patricia C. Bland
Lawrence An
Steven S. Foldes
Nancy Garrett
Nina L. Alesci

Modifiable Health Behaviors and Short-Term Medical Costs Among Health Plan Members
This study of a stratified random sample of 10,000 members of a health plan was conducted to determine the relationship between inactivity, smoking, poor nutrition and heavy drinking and short-term (18 month) medical costs.  Medical costs were 2.9% higher for each day in a week that a member did not exercise, and sedentary members had costs 65% higher than those who exercised daily.  Compared with never smokers, costs were 16% higher for current smokers, 15% higher for smokers who quit more than 12 months ago and 32% higher for smokers who quit less than 12 months ago.   In the year preceding the survey, compared with never smokers, prevalence of smoking related diseases were 43% higher for current smokers, 53% higher for smokers who quit more than 12 months ago, and 136% higher for smokers who quit less than 12 months ago.  Medical costs were not significantly different based on consumption levels for alcohol or fruits and vegetables.

Bradley J. Cardinal
Jong-Young Lee
Young-Ho Kim
Hyo Lee
Kin-Kit Li
Qi Si

Behavioral, Demographic, Psychosocial, and Sociocultural Concomitants of Stage of Change for Physical Activity Behavior in a Mixed-Culture Sample
This cross-sectional study assessed behavioral, demographic, psychosocial, and sociocultural concomitants of the stages of change for physical activity among college students in South Korea and the United States. South Korean female college students were more likely than their male counterparts to be in the early stages of change for physical activity behavior. By comparison, U.S. male college students were slightly more likely than U.S. female college students to be in the early stages of change. This is one of the few international studies to compare constructs from two behavior change models.

Parin Parikh
Heidi Mochari
Lori Mosca

Clinical Utility of a Fingerstick Technology to Identify Individuals with Abnormal Blood Lipids and High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Levels
This cross-sectional study compared the ability of fingerstick technology and standard laboratory analysis to identify individuals with abnormal blood lipid and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentrations at the point of care in a population eligible for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Participants (n = 250) underwent simultaneous fasting capillary blood sampling obtained by fingerstick and venous blood draw. Agreement between the two methods was good to excellent for most blood lipids and fair for hsCRP levels. Point of care values were available within 5 minutes, underscoring the benefits of providing immediate, accurate feedback for individuals in clinical and community settings.

Tina Lankford
Judy Kruger
Deborah Bauer

i
 

State Legislation to Improve Employee Wellness
This study describes the content and success of enactment of state legislation for worksite wellness.  State worksite wellness legislation was compiled from the Centers for Disease Control’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity State Legislative database and from Lexis-Nexis database for the years 2001-2006.  Seven out of 27 states enacted worksite wellness bills.  In the 3 categories in which bills passed (wellness policies and programs, alternative transportation, and health insurance), 19–22% were enacted. This proportion, similar to other health promotion bills, indicates that worksite health promotion legislation passed as favorably as other health promotion topics. 

The Art of Health Promotion

Seth Serxner
Daniel Gold
Angela Meraz
Ann Gray

Do Employee Health Management (EHM) Programs Work?
Current peer review literature clearly documents the economic return and Return-on-Investment (ROI) for employee health management (EHM) programs.  These EHM programs are defined as: health promotion, self-care, disease management and case management programs.  The evaluation literature for the sub-set of health promotion and disease management programs is examined in this article for specific evidence of the level of economic return in medical benefit cost reduction or avoidance.  The article identifies the methodological challenges associated with determination of economic return for EHM programs and summarizes the findings from 23 articles that included 120 peer review study results. The article identifies the average ROI and percent health plan cost impact to be expected for both types of EHM programs, the expected time period for its occurrence, and caveats related to its measurement.

Selected Abstracts
Seven(7) selected abstracts are provided in this edition.

American Journal of Health Promotion |  248-682-0707