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Worksite environment physical activity and healthy food choices: measurement of the worksite food and physical activity environment at four metropolitan bus garages.

ABSTRACT: The present research describes a measure of the worksite environment for food, physical activity and weight management. The worksite environment measure (WEM instrument) was developed for the Route H Study, a worksite environmental intervention for weight gain prevention in four metro transit bus garages in Minneapolis-St. Paul.Two trained raters visited each of the four bus garages and independently completed the WEM. Food, physical activity and weight management-related items were observed and recorded on a structured form. Inter-rater reliability was computed at the item level using a simple percentage agreement.The WEM showed high inter-rater reliability for the number and presence of food-related items. All garages had vending machines, microwaves and refrigerators. Assessment of the physical activity environment yielded similar reliability for the number and presence/absence of fitness items. Each garage had a fitness room (average of 4.3 items of fitness equipment). All garages had at least one stationary bike and treadmill. Three garages had at least one weighing scale available. There were no designated walking areas inside or outside. There were on average < 1 food stores or restaurants within sight of each garage. Few vending machine food and beverage items met criteria for healthful choices (15% of the vending machine foods; 26% of the vending machine beverages). The garage environment was perceived to be not supportive of healthy food choices, physical activity and weight management; 52% reported that it was hard to get fruits and vegetables in the garages, and 62% agreed that it was hard to be physically active in the garages.The WEM is a reliable measure of the worksite nutrition, physical activity, and weight management environment that can be used to assess changes in the work environment.

SUBMITTER: Shimotsu ST

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1876805 | biostudies-other | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Worksite environment physical activity and healthy food choices: measurement of the worksite food and physical activity environment at four metropolitan bus garages.

Shimotsu Scott T ST French Simone A SA Gerlach Anne F AF Hannan Peter J PJ

The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity 20070511

<h4>Background</h4>The present research describes a measure of the worksite environment for food, physical activity and weight management. The worksite environment measure (WEM instrument) was developed for the Route H Study, a worksite environmental intervention for weight gain prevention in four metro transit bus garages in Minneapolis-St. Paul.<h4>Methods</h4>Two trained raters visited each of the four bus garages and independently completed the WEM. Food, physical activity and weight managem ...[more]

PMID: 17498308

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Regular physical activity is an important component of healthy living and wellbeing. Current guidelines recommend that adults participate in at least 150?min of moderate or vigorous-intensity physical activity weekly. In spite of the benefits, just over half of U.S. adults meet these recommendations. Calorie-only food labels at points of food purchase have had limited success in motivating people to change eating behaviors and increase physical activity. One new point of purchase approach to promote healthy behaviors is the addition of food labels that display the physical activity requirement needed to burn the calories in a food item (e.g. walk 15?min). METHODS:The Physical Activity Calorie Expenditure (PACE) Study compared activity-based calorie-expenditure food labels with calorie-only labels at three Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina worksite cafeterias. After 1 year of baseline data collection, one cafeteria had food items labeled with PACE labels, two others had calorie-only food labels. Cohort participants were asked to wear an accelerometer and complete a self-report activity questionnaire on two occasions during the baseline year and twice during the intervention year. RESULTS:A total of 366 study participants were included in the analysis. In the PACE-label group, self-reported physical activity increased by 13-26% compared to the calorie-only label group. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) increased by 24?min per week in the PACE-label group compared to the calorie-label group (p =?0.06). Changes in accelerometer measured steps, sedentary time, and MVPA had modest increases. Change ranged from 1 to 12% with effect size values from 0.08 to 0.15. Baseline physical activity level significantly moderated the intervention effects for all physical activity outcomes. Participants in both label groups starting in the lowest tertile of activity saw the largest increase in their physical activity. CONCLUSION:Results suggest small positive effects for the PACE labels on self-reported and objective physical activity measures. Minutes of weekly MVPA, strength training, and exercise activities showed modest increases. These results suggest that calorie-expenditure food labels may result in some limited increases in physical activity.

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Project description:BackgroundBlogs are widely being used by health professionals and consumers to communicate and access nutrition information. There are numerous benefits for dietitians to establish and contribute to healthy eating blogs. In particular, to disseminate evidence-based nutrition information to promote healthier dietary practices. The aim of this study was to explore characteristics of popular healthy eating blogs and inform the provision of healthy eating information in the Australian context.MethodsA content analysis approach was used to identify characteristics of popular Australian healthy eating blogs. A purposive and snowball sampling approach was used to identify healthy eating blogs from search engines including Google, Bing and Yahoo. Blogs were deemed eligible if: (1) the author self-identified as a health professional; (2) the blog was written by a single author; (3) the blog was written by an Australian author; (4) the blog had a minimum of one post per month, and (5) the blog focused on communicating healthy eating information to the general adult population.ResultsFive popular blogs were followed over a three-month period (December 2017-March 2018), with 76 blog posts included for analysis. Characteristics of these popular blogs were examined and four main features were identified: (i) clearly conveying the purpose of each post; (ii) developing a strong understanding of the reader base and their preferences; (iii) employing a consistent writing style; use of vocabulary and layout; and (iv) communicating healthy eating information in a practical manner. These findings reveal important insight into the features that promote effective nutrition communication within this context.ConclusionFindings from this study highlight common characteristics of popular healthy eating blogs. Future research into the development of blog guidelines which incorporate the characteristics identified in this study can support dietitians in establishing or contributing to the successful provision of evidence-based nutritional information through blogs.

Dataset Information

Worksite environment physical activity and healthy food choices: measurement of the worksite food and physical activity environment at four metropolitan bus garages.

Publications

Worksite environment physical activity and healthy food choices: measurement of the worksite food and physical activity environment at four metropolitan bus garages.

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