Healthy built environments: A review of the literature

The Healthy Built Environments Program has completed a major scholarly literature review examining the role of the built environment in supporting human health as part of everyday living. The principal aim of the Review is to establish an evidence base that supports the development, prioritisation and implementation of healthy built environment policies and practices. The Review identifies current gaps in the evidence to inform future research directions. It includes an annotated bibliography of key research articles and a glossary of terms to assist practitioners, policy makers and researchers working in this interdisciplinary realm.  The focus of the Review is on the three key built environment domains that support human health: The Built Environment and Getting People Active. The Built Environment and Connecting and Strengthening Communities. The Built Environment and Providing Healthy Food Options. These built environment domains address three of the major risk factors for contemporary chronic disease - physical inactivity, social isolation and obesity. The Literature Review is available for download as the whole document or its individual sections. Whole document (12MB) Cover and Acknowledgements (1.11MB)List of Abbreviations and Contents (2.11MB)The Healthy Built Environments Program Overview (291KB)Executive Summary (295KB)1.0 Introduction (255KB)2.0 Structure of this Review (2.46MB)3.0 Aims and Parameters (2.99MB)4.0 Scope and Methodology (3.20MB)5.0 The Evidence (200KB)5.1 The Built Environment and Getting People Active (653KB)5.2 The Built Environment and Connecting and Strengthening Communities (546KB)5.3 The Built Environment and Providing Healthy Food Options (416KB)6.0 Professional Development (284KB)7.0 Conclusion (114KB)References (490KB)Appendix 1: Diary of Database Searches (202KB)Appendix 2: Glossary (282KB)Appendix 3: Annotated Bibliography (2.57MB

Are physical education policies working? A snapshot from San Francisco, 2011.

IntroductionSchool physical education (PE) has been identified as a critical public health tool to increase physical activity among youths. We sought to objectively assess compliance with PE quantity mandates and quality recommendations in a large urban California school district.MethodsWe collected PE schedules and systematically observed PE lessons (n=154) in 20 elementary, 4 middle, and 4 high schools from February through May 2011.ResultsOn the basis of schools' master schedules, 83% of elementary schools met the California state mandate of 100 PE minutes per week. Teachers' actual schedules indicated that 20% of schools met the mandate, and observation showed that only 5% were in compliance. All middle and high schools met the mandated 200 minutes per week. On average, classes at all school levels met the recommended 50% of PE lesson time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. No teacher- or school-level factors significantly predicted PE quantity, but credentialed elementary PE teachers spent more time building students' motor skills.ConclusionsOur results suggest that current national estimates of PE, which are based on schools' self-report, overestimate the amount of PE provided in elementary schools. Although more than half of PE class time was spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, total physical activity in elementary schools from PE is minimal and may do little to contribute to students' overall health

Developing a Comprehensive Youth Obesity Initiative for the State of Virginia

The 2009 Virginia General Assembly Session unanimously voted to change the legislation governing the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation to create the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY) and incorporate childhood overweight and obesity prevention and reduction in its mission. In order to successfully meet the requirements of this legislation, VFHY needed assistance developing a strategic plan for the obesity initiative and a knowledge base to draw from. A comprehensive assessment of the status of Virginia’s childhood obesity problem was conducted, including the prevalence of the illness, the barriers existing to and the benefits to obesity prevention programs, the need for obesity prevention programs, and the desired route to developing a plan for action. Prior to this assessment, no clear picture of the complexity of Virginia’s childhood obesity problem existed outside of the facts: Virginia ranks 25th in the country for percentage of overweight or obese children; one-third of new obesity diagnoses in Virginia each year occur in children; Virginia’s African American population (19%) is significantly higher than the national average (12%); and research shows that African American children and adolescents have a higher rate and risk of overweight or obesity and a need for exposure to obesity-prevention programs. Research from respected and peer-reviewed sources on childhood overweight and obesity was conducted and the data compiled. This information was utilized to develop a new website for VFHY, provide education to the staff, and to develop a survey for the Board of Directors to guide strategic plan development. An assessment of the state of Virginia’s problem with childhood overweight and obesity was conducted from this research and a closer look was taken at the needs of Virginia’s public schools. Education on the benefits of implementing childhood obesity prevention and reduction programs was conducted via presentations at Board meetings and obesity workgroup meetings, as well as one-on-one to the VFHY staff. Finally, materials were developed to promote VYOP and its mission to consumers. The assessment of Virginia’s childhood overweight and obesity problem resulted in: increased VFHY staff competence regarding the issue and confidence in combating it; location of potential funding streams; a centralization of childhood overweight and obesity reduction and prevention efforts for Virginia; and the utilization of supplemental programs and street marketing to implement change in Virginia’s children and youth regarding factors surrounding overweight and obesity. VYOP is examining marketing approaches that would be successful for obesity reduction and prevention and is actively determining partners for their efforts who can impact economic development initiatives that will positively change behaviors. The combination of the ecological perspective and the social marketing theory to develop communication strategies and a strategic plan will help Virginia to decrease childhood overweight and obesity due to the multi-factorial nature of the problem. The strategies will take time to implement, and will be constantly evaluated and revised to best fit the needs of Virginia’s children and youth, but with patience and perseverance, VFHY will be as successful with its obesity prevention and reduction efforts as it has been with those targeting youth tobacco use

Organisational and External Mediating Effects on Dynamic Capability for Innovation in New South Wales Local Government Organisations (LGOs)

Innovation in Australian local government organisations (LGOs) is poorly articulated and the subject of limited empirical research. This thesis investigates how organisational and community capabilities affect LGO innovation. Using the Dynamic Capabilities (DC) framework and a 4 stage exploratory-sequential mixed methods design it finds four operational capabilities that mediate innovation DC: interacting externally; aligning; adapting; engaging the community. It proposes improvements to LGO innovation and suggests ‘community receptiveness’ influences its success

Iron and Phosphorus Cycling under Ferruginous Conditions

Considering the entirety of Earth’s history, the ocean has dominantly been in an anoxic, non-sulphidic state, with the water column containing dissolved iron (termed ‘ferruginous’). Despite the significance of such conditions, the cycling of nutrients in ferruginous settings remains poorly understood. Phosphorus (P) is thought to be the ultimate limiting nutrient on geological timescales. Therefore it is essential to constrain the behaviour of P under ferruginous conditions in order to evaluate feedback mechanisms associated with P stimulation of primary productivity, organic carbon burial and ultimately oxygen production. This study aims to further our understanding of iron (Fe) and P cycling under ferruginous conditions, through the investigation of a modern ferruginous lake and ancient sedimentary rocks deposited under ferruginous conditions. Modifications are made to the SEDEX P sequential extraction method to make it suitable for use with ancient sedimentary rocks and Fe-rich sediments. Using this newly revised method, the previously unidentified magnetite-bound pool of P is shown to have constituted a significant proportion of reactive P in many ancient ferruginous environments, indicating that magnetite may require further consideration when modelling P cycling under ferruginous conditions. Detailed investigation of the water column and sediments of the ferruginous Lake La Cruz reveals that whilst a substantial amount of P is released from the sediments, the formation of reduced Fe phosphates in the water column exerts a strong control on the vertical extent of the benthic P flux, a process that is most likely enhanced over the deeper water column depths of ancient ferruginous oceans. P partitioning in ancient sedimentary rocks from the ~1.8 billion year old Animikie Basin reveals that under stable redox environments, ferruginous conditions cause significant drawdown and burial of P, most likely resulting in a P limited water column. Whilst the majority of this P is now present as authigenic calcium phosphates, the presence of magnetite-bound P and observations of the modern ferruginous Lake La Cruz suggest this was most likely initially drawn down in association with Fe minerals