Survey of emergency medicine doctors in London physical activity characteristics, awareness of guidelines and prescribing behaviours

Objective To determine London emergency medicine (EM) doctors’ physical activity (PA) characteristics, awareness of PA guidelines and PA prescription practice from London emergency departments (EDs).Methods An anonymous online survey of EM doctors working in London over 6 weeks between 27 April 2021 and 12 June 2021. Inclusion criteria included EM doctors of any grade currently working in London EDs. Exclusion criteria were non-EM doctors, other healthcare professionals and those working outside London EDs. The Emergency Medicine Physical Activity Questionnaire created consisted of two parts: part 1, on basic demographic data and the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire and part 2, focused questions around awareness of guidelines and prescribing characteristics.Results 122 participants attempted the survey, of which 75 (61.5%) met the inclusion criteria. 61.3% (n=46) were aware of and 77.3% (n=58) achieved minimum recommended aerobic PA guidelines. However, only 33.3% (n=25) were aware of and 48% (n=36) achieved muscle strengthening (MS) guidelines. The mean sedentary behaviour time/day was 5 hours. 75.3% (n=55) of EM doctors thought it was important to prescribe PA, yet only 41.8% (n=23) prescribed PA.Conclusions Most London EM doctors are aware of and achieve minimum aerobic PA guidelines. Encouraging MS awareness and activities, as well as PA prescribing, should be areas of focus. Larger studies should take place to assess EM doctors’ characteristics in UK regions and data using accelerometers to determine PA more precisely. Further research should also look at patient perceptions of PA

The Aterian and its place in the North African Middle Stone Age

The Aterian is a frequently cited stone tool (‘lithic’) industry of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) (ca. 270-50,000-ka) of North Africa. Dating from at least 145 ka, the Aterian’s association with distinctive ‘tang’ hafted tools, the use of pigments, shell beads and other non-lithic artefacts is hypothesised to represent the earliest manifestations of identity and ethnicity, a reflection of ‘modern human cognition’. However, an alternative view contests the extent of the Aterian’s geographical, temporal and cultural integrity. This thesis is the first detailed study to quantitatively test both these hypotheses and establish the technological character of a region at the nexus of human dispersals. Nineteen spatially and temporally representative lithic assemblages from the North African MSA, together with one outgroup from the Arabian Middle Palaeolithic are compared. Building on the emerging evidence for North African population increases and climatic amelioration in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, this research develops nested analytical models premised on cultural ecology and niche construction. Subsequent analysis explores the North African MSA as a landscape of population differentiation and/or isolation by distance. A suite of multivariate statistics is used to isolate uncorrelated sources of variability in the data. Principal Components, Correspondence and Regression Analyses suggest that the patterns of similarity and difference observed between assemblages do not simplistically articulate with traditional divisions between named industries. In particular, the Aterian is not defined by the presence of tanged tools. Results instead indicate technological convergence and isolation-by distance structure much of the variability. The identification of aggregation sites also attests the presence of social networks. It is argued that the existence of population structure in the North African MSA has important implications for the evolutionary dynamics of modern human dispersals. The methods and models used here are particularly relevant to further exploring the origins of cultural diversification

Global Alliance for the Promotion of Physical Activity: the Hamburg Declaration

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dementia, depression and cancers, are on the rise worldwide and are often associated with a lack of physical activity (PA). Globally, the levels of PA among individuals are below WHO recommendations. A lack of PA can increase morbidity and mortality, worsen the quality of life and increase the economic burden on individuals and society. In response to this trend, numerous organisations came together under one umbrella in Hamburg, Germany, in April 2021 and signed the ‘Hamburg Declaration’. This represented an international commitment to take all necessary actions to increase PA and improve the health of individuals to entire communities. Individuals and organisations are working together as the ‘Global Alliance for the Promotion of Physical Activity’ to drive long-term individual and population-wide behaviour change by collaborating with all stakeholders in the community: active hospitals, physical activity specialists, community services and healthcare providers, all achieving sustainable health goals for their patients/clients. The ‘Hamburg Declaration’ calls on national and international policymakers to take concrete action to promote daily PA and exercise at a population level and in healthcare settings