American journal of preventive medicine
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Dog ownership is emerging as an important correlate of sufficient physical activity and therefore has the potential to positively affect a portion of the population. A growing body of literature indicates that dog-walking contributes to increased physical activity. However, most of the previous studies have been conducted in Australia or the U.S. and have sampled from the general adult population. ⋯ Use of dog-walking may be a potentially viable means of intervention for increasing walking and overall physical activity in older Japanese adults.
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With nearly 49,000 authorized retailers nationwide, a policy change that added fruits and vegetables (FV) to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food packages in 2009 had the potential to expand neighborhood FV availability. ⋯ Expansion of WIC foods was associated with small positive externalities on the food environment. Larger subsidies to create more demand and more-substantial stocking requirements for retailers may yield significantly larger improvements and thus warrant further investigation. Approaches targeting rural, low-income, and racial/ethnic minority neighborhoods also may be needed.
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Effective strategies are needed to address obesity, particularly among minority and low-income individuals. ⋯ Despite baseline differences in healthy food purchases, a simple color-coded labeling and choice architecture intervention improved food and beverage choices among employees from all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.
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Comparative Study
School wellness policies: effects of using standard templates.
Public school policies related to physical activity and nutrition recently have become the focal point for policymakers to evaluate the effect of regulations on the childhood obesity epidemic. State school board associations have begun to provide school districts templates for wellness policies, and little research exists that evaluates the effect of a template on the strength and comprehensiveness of these policies. ⋯ In this sample, locally developed policies were stronger than template-based policies. If replicated in large studies, these findings suggest that further research is needed about how best to support schools that wish to develop school wellness policies.
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Few American children or adults meet national objectives for consumption of both fruits and vegetables (FV). State and local policies that support community access to FV can help support individuals and families in having easier access to FV for purchase and ultimately consumption. ⋯ Although some variation in support exists, the majority of Americans support state or local policy changes designed to increase community access to FV. Future research should augment this work by including questions on willingness to pay, trade-off methods, or referendum-style questions to inform priorities among FV policy initiatives.