Maine-Harvard Prevention Research
Center
Info. Monthly
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evidence-based strategies to improve nutrition, increase physical
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 Current
Issue: March
2009
NEWS:
SCHOOL-BASED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PROGRAMS FOR PROMOTING PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY AND FITNESS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS AGED 6-18
The
World Health Organization estimates that 1.9 million deaths
worldwide are attributable to physical inactivity. Chronic diseases
associated with physical inactivity include cancer, diabetes and
coronary heart disease. The purpose of this systematic review is to
summarize the evidence of the effectiveness of school-based
interventions in promoting physical activity and fitness in children
and adolescents. The search strategy included searching several
databases. In addition, reference lists of included articles and
background papers were reviewed for potentially relevant studies, as
well as references from relevant Cochrane reviews. Primary authors
of included studies were contacted as needed for additional
information.
read more...
TEEN OBESITY AS DEADLY AS SMOKING
Study Shows Obese Teens Have Similar Risk for Early Death as Teen
Smokers Salynn Boyles, WebMD Health News, Feb 2009 Obese teens are
just as likely to die before they reach old age as teens who are
heavy smokers, while those who are overweight, but not obese, have
the same risk for early death as lighter smokers, a new study shows.
read more...
STUDY ZEROES IN ON CALORIES, NOT DIET, FOR LOSS
For people who
are trying to lose weight, it does not matter if they are counting
carbohydrates, protein or fat. All that matters is that they are
counting something. That is the finding of the largest-ever
controlled study of weight-loss methods published on Wednesday in
The New England Journal of Medicine. More than 800 overweight adults
in Boston and Baton Rouge, La., were assigned to one of four diets
that reduced calories through different combinations of fat,
carbohydrates and protein. Each plan cut about 750 calories from a
participant’s normal diet, but no one ate fewer than 1,200 calories
a day.
read more...
RESEARCH:
SCHOOL-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR HEALTH PROMOTION AND WEIGHT CONTROL:
NOT JUST WAITING ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE
Controversy persists
regarding the utility of school-based interventions for obesity
prevention and control and for related health promotion. This
article reviews the pertinent evidence, based partly on a recent
systematic review and meta-analysis by the author and colleagues. Of
64 relevant papers, 21 papers representing 19 distinct studies met
quality criteria; half of these were published since 2000. Despite
marked variation in measures, methods, and populations that handicap
interpretation of this literature, evidence clearly demonstrated
that school-based interventions had significant effects on weight.
read the entire study...
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT FOR DISEASE PREVENTION
Disease prevention has always been the
preferred option for promoting health and reducing disease rates.
For many, this health argument is reason enough to invest in
prevention, economics aside. Others, citing scarce resources,
advocate a careful assessment of the costs and savings associated
with prevention. It initially costs more to deliver preventive
services; the savings the resulting health benefits will incur over
time are less clear. Some reports claim that effective prevention
programs would save the nation billions of dollars,1 while others
predict the reverse.2 Economists and columnists have argued that
prevention rarely saves money and is inherently no more
cost-effective than disease care.3-5 For policy makers—caught
between an economic crisis, pressure to defer new spending and seize
control over escalating health care costs, and a promise to voters
to make prevention part of health care reform—resolving whether
prevention will help reduce spending is highly relevant.
read the entire study...
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Press Release from the
National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR)
Contact: Todd Phillips,
Phone: (202) 884-8313
E-mail:
mailto:tphillip@aed.org
LEADING RESEARCH FUNDERS LAUNCH COLLABORATIVE TO ACCELERATE NATION'S
PROGRESS IN REDUCING CHILDHOOD OBESITY AMBITIOUS AGENDA PLANNED FOR
FIRST YEAR; WEBINAR SERIES TO BEGIN THIS MONTH
WASHINGTON, February 19,
2009 - A new National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research
(NCCOR) was launched
today to accelerate progress on reversing the epidemic of overweight
and obesity among U.S. youth. The initiative brings together the
expertise and resources of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), three of the country's leading
research funders.
Through the collective
efforts of these organizations, NCCOR will aim to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of research on childhood obesity. It
will evaluate new and existing prevention approaches, rapidly assess
promising policy changes and speed the application of interventions
that work.
James S. Marks, M.D.,
M.P.H., senior vice president and director of RWJF's Health Group,
said NCCOR will help ensure that research findings are communicated
consistently to policy-makers and the public and enhance the
effectiveness of community outreach. "We're going to build on our
organizations' complementary strengths," Marks noted. "In five
years, we hope to be able to say that NCCOR played a key role in
reversing childhood obesity rates."
NCCOR will focus on
efforts that have great potential to benefit children, teens and
their families and the communities in which they live. It will put a
special emphasis on the populations in which obesity rates are
highest, including African-American, Hispanic, Native American and
Asian/Pacific Islander children, and children living in low-income
communities.
"Today, 12 million
children and adolescents in the United States are obese and another
11 million are overweight," said Janet Collins, Ph.D., director of
CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion. "We believe that more coordinated research will be able
to have major impact in solving this critical health issue."
The collaborative has an
ambitious multiyear agenda that begins this month with a four-part
webinar series on policy evaluation. In 2009, NCCOR will begin to
undertake:
-
assisting researchers
in identifying valid and reliable measures to be used in childhood
obesity studies through the creation of a Web-based registry of
measures;
-
developing a catalog of
childhood obesity-related monitoring systems;
-
identifying promising
and effective interventions and programs; and
-
creating guidance for
evaluating naturalistic experiments.
"Childhood obesity
increases the risk of many chronic diseases and other problems,"
said NIH Acting Director Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Ph.D. "By working
together on key research challenges, and translating research into
action at the individual, family, and community levels, we can
accelerate progress in reversing this public health challenge."
The webinar series, to be
launched on February 27, is designed to further enhance the skills
of researchers in evaluating state and local policies aimed at
reducing the prevalence of obesity. The sessions will address:
-
Basics of Design to
Evaluate Policy Interventions on February 27 from 1-2 p.m. EDT
-
Addressing Pitfalls to
Research in Real World Settings on April 3 from 1-2 p.m. EDT
-
Enhancing the
Usefulness of Evidence to Inform Practice on May 1 from 1-2 p.m.
EDT
-
Communicating Results
Effectively on June 12 from 1-2 p.m. EDT
Please visit
www.nccor.org for more
information about the webinar series, a full list of NCCOR-led
projects, upcoming events, and childhood obesity research
highlights.
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