Going Beyond the Science: Fostering Community within Health Behavior Interventions for Lasting Change

This commentary discusses the author’s views and experience regarding the importance of fostering community for effective and sustainable health behavior change

Presidential Note: Celebrating the Academy

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Health Promotion Research Methods: Preparing Students to Publish

Since few Master’s level students publish papers, we specifically designed our course in Health Promotion Research to facilitate the process. Students learned about research design and theory in the first half of the course and prepared a paper on archival data for journal submission in the second half. The content and approach for the 16 class sessions varied in approach and included lectures, discussion and homework assignments. Students worked on papers in 2 groups of three and had a chance to meet with a journal editor to discuss the publishing process along the way. Students gave a power point presentation of their findings at the end of the semester along with submitting their finished paper. Overall, students reported learning a lot in the class and they appreciated the chance to publish a paper. Suggestions for improvements included incorporating the paper topics more into the first half of the course

Built Environment Factors Influencing Walking to School Behaviors: A Comparison between a Small and Large US City

Citation: Kim HJ and Heinrich KM (2016) Built Environment Factors Influencing Walking to School Behaviors: A Comparison between a Small and Large US City. Front. Public Health 4:77. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2016.00077A growing body of evidence supports the association between the built environment and children walking to school (WTS), but few studies have compared WTS behaviors in cities of different sizes. This case-comparison study utilized WTS data from fourth graders in the small city of Manhattan, KS, USA (N = 171, from all eight schools) and data from fourth graders in the large city of Austin, TX, USA (N = 671 from 19 stratified-sampled schools). The same survey instrument was used in both locations. After controlling for socioeconomic and demographic variables, built environment, neighborhood, and attitudinal differences were demonstrated by the odds ratios for WTS in the small city vs. the large city. WTS in the small city was more likely to be associated with walking paths/trails and sidewalk landscape buffers en route to school despite lower perceived neighborhood social cohesion, school bus availability, and parental concerns about crime, compared to WTS in the large city. Also, the small city lacked key pedestrian infrastructure elements that were present in the large city. This study highlights important differences related to WTS behaviors and, thus, provides key insights for encouraging WTS in cities of different sizes

Built Environment Factors Influencing Walking to School Behaviors: A Comparison between a Small and Large US City

Citation: Kim HJ and Heinrich KM (2016) Built Environment Factors Influencing Walking to School Behaviors: A Comparison between a Small and Large US City. Front. Public Health 4:77. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2016.00077A growing body of evidence supports the association between the built environment and children walking to school (WTS), but few studies have compared WTS behaviors in cities of different sizes. This case-comparison study utilized WTS data from fourth graders in the small city of Manhattan, KS, USA (N = 171, from all eight schools) and data from fourth graders in the large city of Austin, TX, USA (N = 671 from 19 stratified-sampled schools). The same survey instrument was used in both locations. After controlling for socioeconomic and demographic variables, built environment, neighborhood, and attitudinal differences were demonstrated by the odds ratios for WTS in the small city vs. the large city. WTS in the small city was more likely to be associated with walking paths/trails and sidewalk landscape buffers en route to school despite lower perceived neighborhood social cohesion, school bus availability, and parental concerns about crime, compared to WTS in the large city. Also, the small city lacked key pedestrian infrastructure elements that were present in the large city. This study highlights important differences related to WTS behaviors and, thus, provides key insights for encouraging WTS in cities of different sizes

High-intensity compared to moderate-intensity training for exercise initiation, enjoyment, adherence, and intentions: an intervention study

Background: Understanding exercise participation for overweight and obese adults is critical for preventing comorbid conditions. Group-based high-intensity functional training (HIFT) provides time-efficient aerobic and resistance exercise at self-selected intensity levels which can increase adherence; behavioral responses to HIFT are unknown. This study examined effects of HIFT as compared to moderate-intensity aerobic and resistance training (ART) on exercise initiation, enjoyment, adherence, and intentions. Methods: A stratified, randomized two-group pre-test posttest intervention was conducted for eight weeks in 2012 with analysis in 2013. Participants (n = 23) were stratified by median age (< or ≥ 28) and body mass index (BMI; < or ≥ 30.5). Participants were physically inactive with an average BMI of 31.1 ± 3.5 kg/m2, body fat percentage of 42.0 ± 7.4%, weight of 89.5 ± 14.2 kg, and ages 26.8 ± 5.9 years. Most participants were white, college educated, female, and married/engaged. Both groups completed 3 training sessions per week. The ART group completed 50 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each session and full-body resistance training on two sessions per week. The HIFT group completed 60-minute sessions of CrossFit™ with actual workouts ranging from 5–30 minutes. Participants completed baseline and posttest questionnaires indicating reasons for exercise initiation (baseline), exercise enjoyment, and exercise intentions (posttest). Adherence was defined as completing 90% of exercise sessions. Daily workout times were recorded. Results: Participants provided mostly intrinsic reasons for exercise initiation. Eighteen participants adhered (ART = 9, 81.8%; HIFT = 9, 75%). HIFT dropouts (p = .012) and ART participants (p = .009) reported lower baseline exercise enjoyment than HIFT participants, although ART participants improved enjoyment at posttest (p = .005). More HIFT participants planned to continue the same exercise than ART participants (p = .002). No significant changes in BMI or body composition were found. Workouts were shorter for HIFT than ART (p < .001). Conclusions: HIFT participants spent significantly less time exercising per week, yet were able to maintain exercise enjoyment and were more likely to intend to continue. High-intensity exercise options should be included in public health interventions

Physical Activity Behavior Comparisons Between Adults With and Without Type 1 Diabetes

Physical activity (PA) is a widely accepted strategy to manage chronic diseases like type 1 diabetes; however, unique PA barriers likely result in lower PA levels among person(s) with type 1 diabetes (PWT1D), compared to person(s) without type 1 diabetes (PWOT1D). The integrated theory of health behavior change (ITHBC) (i.e., knowledge/beliefs, self-regulation, and self-management) provides a helpful framework for understanding PA and other health behaviors. This research aimed to determine differences in PA between adult PWT1D and PWOT1D, and characterize their PA-related behaviors using the ITHBC. Participants (N = 90; 86.7% female, 90% white) were recruited via social media and university listserv to complete an online questionnaire. Questions addressed demographics, anthropometrics, diabetes status, and PA-related behaviors. Participants were matched for race, gender, age, and body mass index. PA and related behaviors were compared between PWT1D and PWOT1D using independent samples t-tests and chi-square-tests. No significant differences were found between PWT1D and PWOT1D for weekly minutes of moderate- or vigorous-aerobic PA, or weekly days of muscle-strengthening PA (p \u3e 0.05). Fifty-one percent of PWT1D and 53.3% of PWOT1D reported enough activity to meet PA guidelines. Almost twice as many PWT1D meeting PA guidelines reported using goal setting, a self-regulation behavior, compared to those who did not meet guidelines (82.6% versus 45.5%, p = 0.009). Targeting PA-related behaviors within ITHBC constructs may help reinforce or influence PA behaviors. These findings can inform future behavior change interventions with PWT1D that focus on educational practices for type 1 diabetes educators or healthcare providers for PWT1D so they can better aid patients

High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT): Definition and Research Implications for Improved Fitness

High-intensity functional training (HIFT) is an exercise modality that emphasizes functional,multi-joint movements that can be modified to any fitness level and elicit greater muscle recruitmentthan more traditional exercise. As a relatively new training modality, HIFT is often compared tohigh-intensity interval training (HIIT), yet the two are distinct. HIIT exercise is characterized byrelatively short bursts of repeated vigorous activity, interspersed by periods of rest or low-intensityexercise for recovery, while HIFT utilizes constantly varied functional exercises and various activitydurations that may or may not incorporate rest. Over the last decade, studies evaluating theeffectiveness of HIIT programs have documented improvements in metabolic and cardiorespiratoryadaptations; however, less is known about the effects of HIFT. The purpose of this manuscript is toprovide a working definition of HIFT and review the available literature regarding its use to improvemetabolic and cardiorespiratory adaptations in strength and conditioning programs among variouspopulations. Additionally, we aim to create a definition that is used in future publications to evaluatemore effectively the future impact of this type of training on health and fitness outcomes

Incorporating a Sense of Community in a Group Exercise Intervention Facilitates Adherence

Participant attrition is detrimental for exercise intervention studies, particularly if dropout is not random. Community engagement has helped facilitate participant adherence, which is particularly applicable for group exercise programs. Developing a sense of community (SOC) helps participants feel that they belong and provides ongoing social support. This paper reports on strategies used during an 11-week high intensity functional training (HIFT) intervention with exceptionally high adherence (96.7%) that involved 30 participants (57% women, age 36.7 ± 4.5 years). Participants recorded their heart rate variability using a smartphone app daily throughout the study, completed three different weeks of fitness assessments, and attended six weeks of five days/week HIFT group exercise sessions led by a certified coach. Coaches used strategies to facilitate group interactions and individual feedback and engagement. Participants completed a follow-up survey that included 14 items from the SOC in sport scale (SCS), eight questions about group dynamics, and three open-ended study feedback questions that were coded using the SOC categories. All SCS items were highly rated (mean range = 4.51-4.93/5) as were the group dynamics items (mean range = 4.30-4.85/5). Common interests were the most mentioned SOC category in open-ended responses, and while the participants reported really enjoying the study, they provided constructive feedback for improving future studies. Using specific strategies to facilitate a SOC in exercise intervention research (e.g., group exercise, social media connections, and facilitating participant interactions) are recommended for both researchers and practitioners to avoid attrition and encourage adherence, particularly for programs with high daily participant burden