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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Physical activity

A Changing Kansas: Implications for Health and Communities
Shows changes in Kansas' population since 1960 and population projections through 2066, with breakdowns by urban, semi-urban, densely settled rural, rural, and frontier location. Includes information and statistics on poverty, education, access to care and healthy food, physical activity, tobacco, and community engagement.
Additional links: Issue Brief
Author(s): D. Charles Hunt, Lawrence John Panas
Date: 06/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Kansas Health Institute
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Ecological Approaches to Promoting Active Living and Preventing Childhood Obesity
Features the opening keynote presentation by Dr. Jim Sallis at the 2018 Heartland Childhood Obesity Summit - Factors of Health: Addressing the Systems Influencing Childhood Obesity. Covers discussion on ecological models and evidence of environmental roles influencing active living and obesity in youth. Describes environmental disparities and mentions tool to assess rural communities' physical environment features and amenities, town characteristics, and other factors influencing rural residents' physical activity.
Author(s): James Sallis
Date: 06/2018
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: Children's Mercy Hospital, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Peer Mentor Versus Teacher Delivery of a Physical Activity Program on the Effects of BMI and Daily Activity: Protocol of a School-based Group Randomized Controlled Trial in Appalachia
Describes a school-based program utilizing peer mentors to promote health behavior changes and improved health outcomes in rural Appalachian Ohio teens. Explores unique circumstances leading to limited physical activity among Appalachian youth, such as a lack of organized sports and recreational facilities.
Author(s): Lauren H. Smith, Rick L. Petosa, Abigail Shoben
Citation: BMC Public Health, 18, 633
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
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Active Ottumwa: Adapting Evidence-Based Recommendations to Promote Physical Activity in a Micropolitan New Destination Community
Reports on the development of an evidence-based community-wide intervention promoting physical activity in Ottumwa, Iowa, a micropolitan community of nearly 25,000 people. This program, Active Ottumwa, utilizes lay health advisors and incorporates behavioral and social intervention approaches to improve health. Evaluation procedures for this study include a community survey, longitudinal cohort assessment, observational data, interviews, and project records.
Author(s): Barbara Baquero, Christine M. Kava, Sato Ashida, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(5), 917
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
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America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2018
Provides a national and state-by-state overview of population health for older adults across 34 measures, as well as two supplemental measures new in 2018: suicide rate and risk of social isolation. Includes a special focus on persistent health disparities and challenges facing rural seniors.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: United Health Foundation
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Together We Stride: A Quasi-Experimental Trial Testing the Effectiveness of a Multi-Level Obesity Intervention for Hispanic Children in Rural Communities
Explores the effectiveness of Together We STRIDE (Strategizing Together Relevant Interventions for Diet and Exercise), a multi-level community-based intervention to promote healthy eating habits, physical activity, and weight loss among Hispanic children living in rural Lower Yakima Valley communities in Washington.
Author(s): Linda K. Ko, Eileen Rillamas-Sun, Sonia Bishop, et al.
Citation: Contemporary Clinical Trials, 67, 81-86
Date: 04/2018
Type: Document
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Older Adult Fitness: Access and Participation in Rural Minnesota
Provides an overview of healthy aging in rural Minnesota, including information on physical activities that promote healthy aging and challenges older, rural Minnesota residents face. Discusses strategies and recommendations to support healthy aging in rural parts of the state.
Date: 2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
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Assessment of Dietary Patterns, Physical Activity and Obesity from a National Survey: Rural-Urban Health Disparities in Older Adults
Examines the association between rural-urban status, physical activity, consumption of fruits and vegetables, and obesity prevalence in older adults by analyzing data derived from respondents aged 65 and above from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
Author(s): Steven A. Cohen, Mary L. Greaney, Natalie J. Sabik
Citation: PLoS One, 13(12)
Date: 2018
Type: Document
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Benefits for African American and White Low-Income 7–10-year-old Children and Their Parents Taught Together in a Community-Based Weight Management Program in the Rural Southeastern United States
Examines if African American and White children and adults from two rural North Carolina counties benefited equally from a community-based weight management intervention. Covers statistics by demographic characteristics, race and marital status, employment, occupation, income, and more.
Author(s): Diane C. Berry, Robert G. McMurray, Todd A. Schwartz, Reuben Adatorwovor
Citation: BMC Public Health, 18, 1107
Date: 2018
Type: Document
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Neighborhood Resources to Support Healthy Diets and Physical Activity Among US Military Veterans
Results of a study using data from 2013 to describe residential environments of veterans, in regard to availability of food and recreational opportunities. Features demographic statistics with breakdowns by six levels of urbanicity, including micropolitan and noncore.
Author(s): Elizabeth Tarlov, Shannon N. Zenk, Stephen A. Matthews, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 14
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
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