Try a new approach: Step Away From The TV

Discussions about sedentary behaviour seem to be growing in the physical activity field.

Focusing on sedentary behaviours does make some sense. Obviously, when we are busy being sedentary, we are not being active. So perhaps the sedentary behaviour is one we should tackle.

Some researchers are even looking at the health risks of being too sedentary (Check out this Research Update). Other researchers have even examined interventions which focus on decreasing sedentary time, especially with children and youth.

So what are examples of sedentary behaviour?

• Driving our cars.
• Watching television.
• Playing video games (though there are now some which require some movement)
• Working or playing on the computer (which is what I am doing right now).
• Time at work. More and more jobs are sedentary. Sitting (and in some cases standing) in one place pretty much all day.
• Anything that prevents us from moving.

Many professionals in my field spend time and effort promoting and creating opportunities for physical activity. We often talk about how people can and should fit activity into their lives. Cycle to work! Go for a walk! Play a sport! Take a fitness class! Move more!

It seems simple when we say these things, but in reality it isn’t simple to achieve. Most of Canadians are not physically active to see any benefits.

Well, what if we threw in another approach? What is we spent some time on the actual behaviour we want to get rid of- the sedentary behaviour. Perhaps we could encourage people to find ways to be less sedentary during their day.

The theory of this logic: If people reduced their sedentary time, they will create more time to be active.

So what do I mean by reducing sedentary time?
• Reduce how much TV you watch
• Decrease your leisure time on the computer.
• Find ways to not be sitting all day at work. (Standing meetings, place your garbage can on the opposite side of the room, walk to your colleagues desk instead of sending an email).
• Limit the time we are in the car (i.e. try to walk more from store to store rather than drive to each one)

Perhaps re-framing the physical activity discussion to include examining our sedentary behaviour may in fact help some people to ultimately move more.

Now get away from your computer!

The "fun and geeky" details about physical activity and high blood pressure

Even after all these years in the physical activity field, I am continually fascinated by how amazingly good physical activity is for our body and overall health. So, I feel the need to share my thoughts and energy about this!

For a project that I am currently working on, I have been reading some of the latest research regarding the effects that physical activity has on people with certain chronic diseases. In particular, I have learned quite a bit about hypertension (high blood pressure).

For those who want some basic facts on hypertension, I encourage you to check out the Heart and Stroke Foundation's website.

It is well known that regular physical activity can help to prevent many chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure. Given that "the average adult Canadian" has high blood pressure already, I think it's important for all of us to be talking about the benefits of increased physical activity for this segment of the population.

What have I learned? What news or information should we share with others?

1. You get immediate benefits!
Researches have found that immediately after physical activity (in particular, any aerobic activity) a person's blood pressure decreases for a period of time. The higher the resting blood pressure, the more noticeable the decrease after being active.

So, someone who is in a healthy (resting) blood pressure range may not even notice a drop in their blood pressure after exercise (i.e., if they were measured their blood pressure before and after the physical activity).

For those with high blood pressure, a decrease in blood pressure after being physically active can last anywhere from two to seven hours. The duration of the decrease depends on how long the activity session was, and the intensity level of the session, e.g., at least moderate intensity.

The decrease in blood pressure after being active is a prime example or reason why daily physical activity can be so beneficial for someone with high blood pressure. Just from being active, your arteries will get some relief for a period of time. How fantastic is that!

2. You don't have to work at a hard intensity to see benefits!
I also learned that moderate intensity aerobic activity is best. Vigorous activity does not seem to be as beneficial as moderate intensity, in regards to achieving a decrease in blood pressure. (Of course, depending on the person, vigorous activity certainly has numerous benefits – but that's a topic for another day!)

When it comes to intensity, what this all means is that even just walking at a brisk pace (something a lot people can do), can be enough activity for someone who does have high blood pressure to see some changes with their blood pressure and achieve health benefits.

3. You will still see some benefits in 10 minutes block of physical activity
Also, based on the research; it is recommended that those who have high blood pressure try to be physically active 30 minutes a day. The longer a session is, the more benefits a person can see.

However, the research I read also suggested that if the 30 minutes is broken into three 10-minute blocks throughout the day, people will still see some benefits. Knowing that three 10-minutes sessions can be beneficial can definitely make achieving the 30-minute recommendation more "doable" or manageable for many people.

4. You may actually lower your blood pressure with regular physical activity!
Finally, those with high blood pressure who become active regularly may actually achieve a consistently lower resting blood pressure. In some cases, the decrease will be enough to bring a person back to a healthy range, or enough for the person's physician to take the person off their medication for high blood pressure.

Enough said?!? Thanks for allowing me to unleash my "geeky physiology side”.

For those that are like me and get a kick out of this topic, I have included some good resources below that you can dive into for more "fun stuff" on your own time.

For those who are not so keen on reading reams of research, I hope I gave you enough information and inspiration for you to share these facts and findings with others and perhaps spark some wider appreciation of the sometimes complex benefits of physical activity.

Pescatello, L. S., Franklin, B. A., Fagard, R. Farquhar, W.B. Kelley, G. A. and Ray, C.A., (2004), American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand: Exercise and Hypertension. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Special Communications.

Warburton DER, Katzmarzyk PT, Rhodes RE, Shephard RJ. Evidence-informed physical activity guidelines for Canadian adults. Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. 2007;32 (suppl.2E):S16-S68.

Kokkinos, P.F., Gianneloi,A., Manolis,A., & Pittaras, A. (2009) Physical Activity in the Prevention and Management of High Blood Pressure., Hellenic Journal of Cardiology., 50 52-59

Coming Soon!! New Physical Activity Guidelines

For those of you who have not heard, Canada will be getting some new physical activity guidelines- hopefully in the next year. I suspect this development will have many people (like me!) who work in fields related to physical activity literally jumping for joy. The guidelines have needed to be revisited for a number of years. Previous guidelines were released in 2002 (Children and Youth), 1998 (Adult) and 1999 (Older Adult) .

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) has been leading the charge -hoping to update the guidelines based on current research. They have been reviewing the current guidelines and analyzing current research to determine what the new recommendations should be. They have done a fantastic amount of work.

In May 2010 they released their recommendations for updating Canada's Physical Activity Guidelines. You can see their news release, fact sheet and a plethora of academic articles on the CSEP website: http://www.csep.ca/english/View.asp?x=587

I suggest you take the time to read the fact sheet. It is nicely layed out and directly compares the new recommendations to the current guidelines. This allows you to see the changes made. I was very happy to see that the age ranges were expanded upon. (I still wonder how was that, before now, the Guidelines did not specifically address teenagers aged 15-19 have had no physical activity guidelines??!!).

One interesting difference can be found in their recommendations for children and youth. CSEP's new recommendations suggest at least 60 minutes of moderate-victorious physical activity for children and youth. The current Physical Activity Guidelines for children and youth recommend 90 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity.

This decrease in the amount of time recommended has caused quite a stir and debate. The main argument (that I have heard) for the change from 90 minutes to 60 minutes is that is would make this aspect of the Guidelines consistent with other countries and with the World Health Organization. Interesting, eh?

Will this change affect how we encourage our children and youth to be active?
Hmmmmm...what do you think? What does your experience tell you?

Beside this "hot button" issue, there is still much work that has to happen before the new physical activity guidelines are released. The Public Health Agency of Canada and CSEP will hopefully be formulating appropriate messaging, dissemination and other supporting resources. (Personally, I will not be sad to see the cartoons images go).

Currently PHAC has an online consultation available. This is an opportunity for anyone who is interested in how the physical activity guidelines are developed, to have their say. Even folks who may not be well-versed in the field should have a chance to say their piece.

So, whatever your interest or experience, I definitely suggest you take the time to complete the survey. This is the time to speak up!
http://www.physicalactivityguidelines.ca/home.html

Stay tuned for more developments.

Policy change- ensuring legacy

At the end of September I attended a meeting where organizations who received funding could share their successes. It was an interesting day- and I was able to hear a lot about some of the great work that is happening in our province.

One of the keys things I heard that day came from 3 of the funded projects. Two of these projects involved working with the schools and school district and another project was with the Edmonton Boys and Girls club. The school projects were working towards a comprehensive school health, while the Boys and Girls club was running an after school program that had healthy snacks and physical activity. It was neat to hear about their success and also how they often had similar difficulties. As with all funding projects, the money comes to an end. We often hear that an excellent program disappears once the money is gone, which often leaves us questioning what impact does this kind of funding have.

These groups all discussed the importance of planning for sustainability of the project. From the very beginning of the project they were planning for when the money was coming to an end.

When asked how they worked to ensure sustainability, all three projects discussed the importance of policy being involved.

A good example was with the Boys and Girls club and their Healthy for Life-Cool Moves project. This project ran a program where they encouraged healthy eating, participating in physical activity and empowered the kids to make changes in their life, their families and in their community.

After some initial struggle to get Cool Moves working, the Boys and Girls club decided that in order for this program to be successful organizational policies needed to change. They decided that healthy food and regular physical activity should be a PART of ALL their programs events and activities (regardless of funding). This became part of the policy of the club.

They also decided that how staff was trained needed to change. Now, all staff (regardless of the program or event they ran) received training regarding healthy food choices and providing physical activity opportunities.

By having these changes occur at the policy level- providing healthy food and physical activity became the norm- no the exception.

Now, as the funding for the project has drawn to a close, the Cool Moves program is still operating. Yah! Even if this particular program does struggle to live, it has left a legacy with the whole Boys and Girls Club. In its wake it has ensured that all current and future programs will only provide healthy food options and to include physical activity. And that is something to be very proud of.

Happy Memories

Dancing, skating, swimming, tobogganing, pick-up hockey, hiking.....(the list can go on and on) all have potential to get you moving, but also help to create a lasting, and hopefully, fun memory for most of us.

Adding some physical activity.... well it can make things fun. It can make things memorable. It can turn a typical day, event, gathering into a memory that connects people for years.

For example, at a BBQ many years ago, myself and two others were waiting for the rest of our friends to show. I didn't know these two people very well and conversation was awkward. As we got bored waiting we decided to cross the street to the park. We brought along a soccer ball and Frisbee. To make things more fun (or simply more complicated) someone had the brilliant idea of passing the soccer ball and throwing the frisbee at the same time. Soon we were running, kicking, tossing and laughing our heads off. We were good friends from that day forward. And, to this day, we still talk about that afternoon... usually with a big grin on our faces.

Another example given to me from a neighbor. He talked about how some his best memories as a kid was swimming and playing in the lake with his dad. Those memories mean a lot to him, so much so, he wants to create them for his own kids as they grow up. The are often at the local pool on the weekends.

BBQs, family gatherings, neighborhood get- togethers, special events at work or school are all perfect opportunities to add some physical activity and some fun. Being active adds to the event, helps to establish and create stronger bonds between people. They also help to create lasting memories.

So perhaps at your next event leave the camera at home and bring some ideas to be active... I bet you the memory of the day will stick around a lot longer.

Beyond workplace challenges

Lately my mind has been thinking about physical activity promotion in the workplace. So I thought I would write a little about it.

In order for workplaces to see success in physical activity promotion is by getting management buy in and support. Without management behind initiatives the ability to “change the culture” of the workplace will be lot harder.

Also, physical activity in the workplace does need to be more than simply an event or activity challenge. These events and activities are important plus can be a lot of fun and a great way to improve moral. But other initiatives (less exciting, unfortunately, than a 10,000 Steps challenge) need to take place if you want workplace to fully support physical activity.

For example, one level where change should be conducted is with the workplace policies. Long term changes and on- going support can occur if employers look to change or add policies and strategies that do promote physical activity. The nice thing about addressing policy changes is that both small to large companies are able to do this.

What might strategies, at a policy level, that promote physical activity look like? Well here are some examples for you taken from our Physical Activity @ Work website. I hope they can offer some inspiration.

·Offer flex time for physical activity. Invite employees who actively commute to work or exercise at lunch to make up any missed time later in the day.

·Allow staff to work part time, so that they can participate in physical activity.

·Include a physical activity account in your benefit plan to pay for or subsidize fitness memberships, assessments, classes, counseling or instruction.

·Provide interest-free loans for employees to buy bicycles or good walking shoes/runners.

·Recognize employees who participate in physical activity. Survey employees first to determine how they prefer to be recognized, e.g., through company newsletters, appreciation lunches, rewards and/or thank you notes.

·Provide child care and other family-friendly amenities during physical activities that occur after work.

·Avoid scheduling meetings over lunch.

·Encourage active breaks instead of coffee breaks.

·Have active fundraisers rather than bingos. For example, employees might climb the Calgary Tower stairs or take turns riding a stationary bike for 24 hours.

·Make birthday celebrations active times. Instead of a lunch, invite the birthday person to choose an activity. Options could include a session with a yoga instructor or an evening ski trip.

·Promote a casual dress day. One study found that employees who dress casually were more physically active.

Children's Fitness Tax Credit: improvements required

There has been a lot of talk about the Children's Fitness Tax Credit the last couple of weeks. All this talk has been spurred on by a recently published study which looked at this credit.

Dr. John Spence, from the University of Alberta, conducted this study which examined the awareness, uptake, and perceived effectiveness of this tax credit among Canadian Parents. He also looked to see how household income affected these results.

Among parents surveyed:

• 54.4 % said their child was enrolled in an organized physical activity program;
• 55.5% were aware of the Childrens' Fitness Tax Credit Program;
• 26.1% made claims for the tax credit in 2007,
• 33.1 % planned to do so in 2008.
• 15.6 % reported that it had increased their children’s participation in physical activity programs

The survey found that parents in the low income category were significantly less aware of the tax credit program, and less likely to claim the Children's Fitness Tax Credit when compared to other income groups.

Originally this tax credit was created by the federal government to help address the financial barrier to physical activity participation. However, this study confirms our intuitive assumption with a program like this. A tax credit is not really going to financially help the segment of the population who really needs it. In fact it will on serve to aid those that already have advantages.

A tax program, such as the Children's Fitness Tax credit will only benefit those who can actually afford to register their children in the program. For example, Dr. Spence reported that 63% of low income parents spent between 0-$100.00 on their child's registration. You compare this to the highest income group- and 76% spent more than $100.00 and 31% over $500. Disparity much??

An interesting side note: When this tax credit was first conceptualized, panels of experts were formed to provide feedback to the federal government. Many of those experts expressed concerns that the tax credit would not reach the segment of the population in most need. Basically they predicted what Dr. Spence's found. Now that there is actual research backing up these concerns, I hope the government listens to experts out there.

Dr. Spence- presented a couple recommendations in his paper... which I think the federal government should carefully consider:

1. Increasing awareness of the tax credit to low income families: as awareness of this tax credit was lowest in the low-income families targeted marketing to this segment of the population is needed.
2. Support Subsidy programs: The government should also support organization (municipalities and not-for profits) which offer subsides to low income families. A good example would be KidsSport Canada

As for us... community leaders... we need to speak up! Armed with this knowledge- and research backing us up- we need to start advocating to our Member of Parliament, that this tax credit needs to be improved and additional options for support should be explored.

After you have done that- get outside and go for a pleasant walk!

Dr. John Spence's paper: Spence JC, Holt NL, Dutove JK, & Carson V (2010). Uptake and effectiveness of the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit in Canada: the rich get richer. BMC public health, 10 PMID: 20565963

Plus size yoga

So I was chatting with a woman this weekend. We had a great conversation about yoga and fitness class. Why some are good and why others are not so good. Interestingly she mentioned she recently signed up for a Plus Size Yoga class, which was offered in a private studio.

I thought this kind of class was great… what a fantastic idea. Definitely the instructor is finding a niche and hopefully filling a need. But as with any class there is good and there is the bad. So bear with me as I discuss both.

I think a class like this is good for a couple of reasons:

1. Its unique- yah for the instructor to think outside the box!

2. Shows the instructor is willing to educate themselves to accommodate to this population groups.

3. It is reaching an important portion of the population. According to the statistics about 50% of the populations is either overweight or obese.

4. It is a place of belonging where those who consider themselves to be plus size can be active and feel more comfortable.

This woman emphasized how important it was to feel that she was safe there, not judged, and that the instructor understood the issues she faced. For many of us, regardless of our size, being physically active can make us feel vulnerable, uncomfortable and exposed- especially in classes. And for those who look physically different or even move differently , this can even be more of a negative expereince.

When you think about it… really it can be a courageous thing to start and stick with being active- especially if we feel very uncomfortable while doing it.

So kudos to the instructor who is willing to take a risk and offer a different class. Creating a place where people can come together to be active and feel that they belong.

Okay... but now I need to at least get you thinking about the bad:

In order to take this class, a person not only must identify themselves as plus size, but admit it to others as well. This in itself can be a barrier to participation and takes a certain amount of courage to overcome.

So as leaders, we need to be careful with how we label/name our programs. We may have all the great intentions in the world to reach out to different segments of the population… but if folks in the population group don’t like seeing themselves there- we may have an empty class.

Negativity aside, I think more programs like this should materialize. And I certainly hope this one is a hit. Thinking out side the norm when it comes to programs and opportunities in our community is key… especially when we want to reach everyone.

What are our messages???

So...
What do you think of these pictures?

How do they make you feel?

Who relates to them?

Why do we use them?

Should we be using them?

What is our message? Part 1

I am not sure about you, but I know I get annoyed when I see happy, thin, young women (usually with non-sweaty hair, non-red face and excellent make-up application) running on the treadmill, usually sporting the form fitting outfits that seem to be all the rage.

These images often make me feel inadequate, that there is something wrong with me and that I should be looking like them when I exercise. I feel this way and I like to be active... how do pictures like this sit with those who aren't active?????

Exercise has gotten a bad label... usually created through the horrors of archaic structured gym classes and other unsuccessful bouts into the fitness world. The unfortunate things is that the fitness industry in some ways continues this negative label.

TV advertisements, infomercials are often bombarded with very "fit " looking individuals. Often with wearing tight fitness clothing with excellent muscle definition (that would take years of dedication to achieve). They are often beautiful, young and in many cases Caucasian.

We also see these images in magazines, newspapers and yes even in our community programming.

How often have we heard (and in some cases felt) " I need to get in shape before I can go to the gym...." Is this the message we want people to have? Is that not the message we may be sending when we use similar images.

What if a person does not like the gym, or they fear treadmills, or the idea of weights is as boring as watching paint dry. What do these images mean to these folks?

My beef with these images is who do they speak to? Who do they represent? Who feels they can belong alongside those images? I for one don't. The speak to a small segment of the population, and definitely not to the parts of the population we want to reach.

When it comes to physical activity for our community members we need to look at differentiating ourselves from the fitness industry. Don't get me wrong. They offer a service and are of value- but to only some of our community. As leaders in this field and in our community we must be careful with our messaging. What are the images we use? Who do we want to reach? Can these people see themselves in the images we use?

Images are just a small part about messaging.. but they also attract attention. If a person can identify themselves in an image they are more likely to relate to the material being present. They feel more like they belong and they may perhaps are more inclined to consider the programs or services being offered. Which is important when we are trying to get people moving.

Now go out and enjoy some sunshine...I'll chat more about this later.
Angela