The American Cancer Society (ACS) publishes Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines to serve as a foundation for its communication, policy, and community strategies and ultimately, to affect dietary and physical activity patterns among Americans. These Guidelines, published every 5 years, are developed by a national panel of experts in cancer research, prevention, epidemiology, public health, and policy, and as such, they represent the most current scientific evidence related to dietary and activity patterns and cancer risk. The ACS Guidelines include recommendations for individual choices regarding diet and physical activity patterns, but those choices occur within a community context that either facilitates or interferes with healthy behaviors. Community efforts are essential to create a social environment that promotes healthy food choices and physical activity. Therefore, this committee presents one key recommendation for community action to accompany the four recommendations for individual choices to reduce cancer risk. This recommendation for community action recognizes that a supportive social environment is indispensable if individuals at all levels of society are to have genuine opportunities to choose healthy behaviors. The ACS Guidelines are consistent with guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association for the prevention of coronary heart disease and diabetes, as well as for general health promotion, as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services' 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

http://www.iacld.ir/DL/elm/ajcguidelinesonnutritionandphysicalactivityforcancerprevention.pdf

American Cancer Society Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention: Reducing the Risk of Cancer with Healthy Food Choices and Physical Activity

Obesity relationships with community design, physical activity, and time spent in cars

https://activelivingresearch.org/files/4_AJPM05_Frank_0.pdf

Linking objectively measured physical activity with objectively measured urban form: findings from SMARTRAQ.

http://ipenproject.org/documents/publications_docs/owenwalkreview.pdf

Understanding environmental influences on walking: Review and research agenda

The American Cancer Society (ACS) publishes Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines to serve as a foundation for its communication, policy, and community strategies and, ultimately, to affect dietary and physical activity patterns among Americans. These Guidelines, published approximately every 5 years, are developed by a national panel of experts in cancer research, prevention, epidemiology, public health, and policy, and they reflect the most current scientific evidence related to dietary and activity patterns and cancer risk. The ACS Guidelines focus on recommendations for individual choices regarding diet and physical activity patterns, but those choices occur within a community context that either facilitates or creates barriers to healthy behaviors. Therefore, this committee presents recommendations for community action to accompany the 4 recommendations for individual choices to reduce cancer risk. These recommendations for community action recognize that a supportive social and physical environment is indispensable if individuals at all levels of society are to have genuine opportunities to choose healthy behaviors. The ACS Guidelines are consistent with guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association for the prevention of coronary heart disease and diabetes, as well as for general health promotion, as defined by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. CA Cancer J Clin 2012. © 2012 American Cancer Society.

https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.3322/caac.20140

American Cancer Society guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention

Objectives This study evaluated a neighborhood environment survey and compared the physical activity and weight status of the residents in 2 neighborhoods. Methods On 2 occasions, 107 adults from neighborhoods with differing "walkability" were selected to complete a survey on their neighborhood environment. Physical activity was assessed by self-report and by accelerometer; height and weight were assessed by self-report. Results Neighborhood environment characteristics had moderate to high test-retest reliabilities. Residents of high-walkability neighborhoods reported higher residential density, land use mix, street connectivity, aesthetics, and safety. They had more than 70 more minutes of physical activity and had lower obesity prevalence (adjusted for individual demographics) than did residents of low-walkability neighborhoods. Conclusions The reliability and validity of self-reported neighborhood environment subscales were supported. Neighborhood environment was associated with physical activity and overweight prevalence.

/pdf/neighborhood-based-differences-in-physical-activity-an-1srkav7nkn.pdf

Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation

Purpose.To determine the association of neighborhood design factors and recreational environments with physical activity. Methods. Randomly selected adults (n = 102, 52% female, 81% white, mean age = 48 years) completed a survey of eight neighborhood design variables, convenient recreational facilities, and availability of home equipment. Physical activity was measured by self-report and 7 days of accelerometer monitoring. Results. Residential density and an overall environment index were significantly related to both vigorous-intensity self-reported (r = .35 and .28, respectively) and objectively measured physical activity (r = .39 and .23, respectively). Home equipment was correlated with self-reported total (r = .34) and vigorous leisure-time physical activity (r = .27). The vigorous and total activity accelerometer measures were correlated with street connectivity (r = .25 and .21, respectively). Discussion. Few self-reported neighborhood design factors and recreational environment variables ...

Jennifer B. Black

Papers

Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation

The association of neighborhood design and recreational environments with physical activity.

Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale