Introduction

This knowledge path about physical activity and children and adolescents has been compiled by the MCH Library at Georgetown University. It offers a selection of current, high-quality resources that analyze data, describe public health campaigns and other promotion programs, and report on research aimed at identifying promising strategies for improving physical activity levels within families, schools and after-school programs, child care and early childhood education settings, and communities. The knowledge path also provides resources about physical activity for children and adolescents with special health care needs. The knowledge path is aimed at health professionals, policymakers, child care providers, and community advocates. Separate briefs present resources for schools and families. The knowledge path will be updated periodically.

Overview

See Physical Activity and the Health of Young People, rev. ed. (2008) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This fact sheet highlights the benefits of regular physical activity and the long-term consequences of sedentary behavior for children and adolescents. It also presents participation rates in physical activity and in physical education classes for children and adolescents.

Resources for Professionals

Websites

• American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). Includes publications, program information, electronic discussion groups, and links to a research consortium and each of the alliance organizations that represent professionals in physical education, health education, recreation, dance, and sports. The organizations are the American Association for Health Education (AAHE), the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR), the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS), the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), and the National Dance Association (NDA).
  
  
• Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors (ASTPHND): Moving to the Future. Offers a collection of tools to develop successful community programs that promote healthy eating and physical activity. Includes instructions for conducting a community assessment, writing objectives, developing a plan, and evaluating programs. ASTHPHND also presents
  
  Critical Need for Public Health Leadership and Capacity to Improve Health through Physical Activity: Recommendations from the Physical Activity Collaborative. (2008).
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Supports several initiatives and offers many resources to improve physical activity among children, adolescents, and adults that include
  
  Explanation of U.S. Physical Activity Surveys. Describes and compares several different national surveys that track physical activity in many age groups and at several levels for the United States national public health objectives. Also provides background information about physical activity assessment.
  
  Guide to Community Preventive Services: Physical Activity. Contains recommendations for population-based interventions to increase physical activity that are appropriate for communities and health care systems. Recommendations are focused on interventions in three areas: (1) campaigns and informational approaches to increasing physical activity, (2) behavioral and social approaches to increasing physical activity, and (3) environmental and policy approaches to increasing physical activity.
  
  Physical Activity Resources for Health Professionals. Offers information and tools for state and local health departments, schools and universities, community coalitions, organizations that fund public health programs, health care systems, and other groups that have an interest in or responsibility for increasing physical activity. Provides reports and recommendations, data and surveillance resources, information to assist with program planning and evaluation, and ideas for physical activity promotion.
  
  Social Marketing for Nutrition and Physical Activity. This online course provides training for public health professionals about how to use social marketing to plan nutrition, physical activity, and obesity-prevention programs.
  
  Tobacco-Free Sports Initiatives. Offers materials to help coaches, school administrators, and state and local health departments promote the importance of choosing an active and tobacco-free lifestyle.
  
  Also see these additional CDC resources: Youth Physical Activity Guidelines Toolkit (2009), Healthy Youth!, BAM! Body and Mind, Best Bones Forever!, Physical Activity for Everyone, and Designing and Building Healthy Places.
  
  
• Girls on the Run (GOTR). Offers information about this nationwide program to promote physical activity and healthy behaviors among girls age 8 to 13.
  
  
• Healthy People 2020. Information about this national health-promotion and disease-prevention initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services. View the overview, objectives, and recommended interventions and resources for physical activity.
  
  
• National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA). Presents information about the National Physical Activity Plan and its implementation along with links to fact sheets, tools, reports, and state physical activity coalitions. NCPPA is a coalition of public, private, and industry organizations that advocate for policies to encourage all Americans to lead more physically active lives. See NCPPA’s e-newsletters.
  
  
• National Physical Activity Plan. Presents a set of strategies and tactics that aim to increase physical activity in all segments of the U.S. population. The National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA) is coordinating the implementation of the plan among organizations throughout the country.
  
  
• National Society of Physical Activity Practitioners in Public Health (NSPAPPH). Presents articles, conference and program information, and links to physical activity resources that have been developed by state and national organizations.
  
  
• National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Offers position statements, journal article abstracts, and other resources about strength training and conditioning practices to improve athletic performance and fitness. Topics include anabolic steroid abuse.
  
  
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Presents science-based guidance to help Americans ages 6 and older improve their health through participation in appropriate physical activity. Recommendations are provided for groups such as children and adolescents, adults, older adults, pregnant and postpartum women, and individuals with special health care needs. Other resources include a blog and fact sheet for health professionals and a toolkit with posters and other materials for organizations and communities. The guidelines are presented by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Materials include
  
  2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. (2008). A chapter addresses physical activity in children and adolescents. CDC's Youth Physical Activity Guidelines Toolkit (2009) highlights strategies that schools, families, and communities can use to support these guidelines.
  
  Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report. (2008). This report documents the scientific background and rationale for the guidelines.
  
  
• President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS). Contains resources for coaches, teachers, health and fitness professionals, and families about physical fitness. Resources include a physical activity and fitness program toolkit, guides, fact sheets, research briefs, and the President’s Challenge, an online physical activity tracking and award program.
  
  
• Up2Us: Bring Change Through Youth Sports. Presents program information, fact sheets, and policy briefs about using physical activity and sports as a tool for youth development. Up2Us is a national coalition of sports-based youth-development organizations.
  
  
• Women’s Sports Foundation. Offers program and grant information and reports, policy statements, and guides about sports and physical activity for girls and women. Resources and initiatives include
  
  GoGirlGo! Presents program information, curricula, guides, and Spanish-language materials about this effort to improve the health and wellness of girls ages 8-18 through physical activity.
  

Additional Electronic Publications

• National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation. 2008. Prevention of Adult Cardiovascular Disease Among Adolescents: Focusing on Risk Factor Reduction. Washington, DC: National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation. [Report].
  
  
• Office of the Surgeon General. 2010. The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation. Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). [Report, Fact sheet].
  
  
• Suitor CW, Kraak VI. 2007. Adequacy of Evidence for Physical Activity Guidelines Development: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. [Report].
  
  
• Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport. 2007. Developing Physically Active Girls: An Evidence-based Multidisciplinary Approach. Minneapolis, MN: Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport. [Report].
  
  
• White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity. 2010. Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation: Report to the President. Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President of the United States. [Report].
  

Databases

See the following set of MCH Library resource briefs to identify additional data and statistics, literature and research, and programs about physical activity.

• Maternal and Child Health Data and Statistics
• Maternal and Child Health Literature and Research Databases
• Maternal and Child Health Programs Databases
  

Electronic Newsletters and Online Discussion Groups

• National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). Offers NASPE-Talk, a collection of electronic discussion groups on physical education topics. Also offers NASPE-Forum, a moderated electronic discussion forum for in-depth discussions on topics of interest to physical education, sport, and physical activity professionals.
  
  
• National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA). Publishes two newsletters. NCPPA News is published twice each month and contains news about research, reports, funding opportunities, and upcoming events on physical activity. NCPPA’s public affairs newsletter, the Activity Advocate, is published 10 times a year and covers federal and state legislative activity concerning physical activity.
  
  
• University of South Carolina Prevention Research Center. Offers an electronic newsletter with information about research, training opportunities, and resources regarding physical activity and public health. Also offers a listserv to advance public health approaches to promoting physical activity by creating a national network of public health practitioners, researchers, and interested others.
  
  
• Also see the CDC’s Healthy Community Design News Listserv and the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) News.
  

Resources for Families

• See the MCH Library family resource brief Physical Activity and Kids and Teens.
  

Resources for Schools

• See the MCH Library school resource brief Physical Activity and Physical Education.
  

Resources for Child Care and Early Education Programs

• See the MCH Library resource brief Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in Child Care and Early Education Programs.
  

Resources on Specific Aspects of Physical Activity

Community Design

• Active Living by Design (ALBD). Presents program and conference information, reports, promising strategies, and other resources about creating healthy eating and active living environments. Includes a collection of recommended publications, resources, organizations, and tools from the major fields that are considered the foundation of the active living movement.
  
  
• Active Living Research (ALR). Offers program information, research briefs, bibliographies, and other tools and resources that examine how environments and policies influence active living for children and their families. Resources include
  
  Active Living Research Literature Database. Features journal article citations about the relationship between environment and policy and physical activity and obesity.
  
  
• Active Living Resource Center (ALRC). Presents educational materials and planning and implementation tools to help community organizers make neighborhoods more bicycle and pedestrian friendly.
  
  
• Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO): Smart Growth Toolkit. Describes the components of smart growth, including physical activity, and their importance to public health. Gives case studies from communities around the country and links to resources to help state and territorial health officials develop model practices for their own communities.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Designing and Building Healthy Places. Offers program and conference information, fact sheets, journal articles, a course curriculum, and links to a wealth of resources about the interaction between people and their environments. Topics include children’s health and the built environment and physical activity. Resources and initiatives include
  
  Active Environments. Presents program information and resources to encourage environmental and policy interventions that will affect increased levels of physical activity and improved public health by promoting walking, bicycling, and the development of accessible recreation facilities.
  
  Health Impact Assessment (HIA). Presents links to a wealth of tools to evaluate the potential health effects of a project or policy before it is built or implemented.
  
  Healthy Community Design News Listserv. This electronic discussion group addresses issues related to health and the built environment. An electronic newsletter that includes news articles, research, and updates on conferences and events related to livability is sent to all subscribers once a month.
  
  Also see CDC’s Healthy Youth! and the Guide to Community Preventive Services.
  
  
• Leadership for Healthy Communities: Active Living. Presents a collection of materials and tools for promoting physical activity, smart growth, and healthy community design among state and local government leaders.
  
  
• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL): Healthy Community Design and Access to Healthy Food Legislation Database. Describes state legislation that seeks to increase access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity. Search for legislation by state, topic area (e.g., Bike/Pedestrian, Physical Activity), year, bill type, bill status, and bill number.
  
  
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Presents a wealth of information and training tools about health and safety, engineering, advocacy, education, enforcement, access, and mobility as it relates to increasing and improving spaces for safe walking and bicycling as a viable means of transportation and physical activity.
  

Special Health Care Needs

• Disabled Sports USA. Contains program information for this national network of community-based chapters offering a variety of sports rehabilitation and recreation programs to anyone with a permanent disability.
  
  
• National Center on Accessibility (NCA). Presents a webinar series, technical reports, educational materials, articles, product listings, and program information for consumers; health professionals; and the parks, recreation, and tourism industries about recreation-related accessibility issues for people with disabilities. NCA is part of Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.
  
  
• National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD). Offers resources about physical activity and disability that include an electronic newsletter and fact sheets about activities, games, camps, recreational pursuits, and sports that have been adapted to the needs of people with disabilities. NCPAD is located at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
  
  
• Special Olympics International (SOI). Contains program and event information for year-round sports training and athletic competitions for children, adolescents, and adults with intellectual disabilities. Includes sports rules, program guides, coaching guides, articles, and a program locator. Special Olympics serves more than 2.5 million individuals with intellectual disabilities in more than 120 countries.
  
  
• Popper B, Irish S, Dworetzky B, Anderson B, Minihan P, Must A. 2008. Family Matters: Promoting Health and Wellness for Children with Special Heath Care Needs—Family Booklet. Albuquerque, NM: Family Voices.
  
  
• Also see the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and BAM! Body and Mind.
  

Related MCH Library Resources

• Nutrition in Children and Adolescents knowledge path, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents knowledge path, family resource brief, school resource brief
  

Physical Activity and Children and Adolescents: Knowledge Path, 5th ed. (March 2010). (Updated: January 2013).
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Library.
Reviewers: Cicley Gay, Women's Sports Foundation; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Library.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Library.