Active Ottumwa: Adapting Evidence-Based Recommendations to Promote Physical Activity in a Micropolitan New Destination Community

Background: Evidence-based interventions have been developed and tested to promote physical activity, but fewer studies have focused on identifying effective intervention strategies for mid-size rural communities, especially new immigrant destinations. We report here on the design and implementation of Active Ottumwa, a community-wide intervention using a lay health advisor approach to increase physical activity in a micropolitan new destination community in the rural state of Iowa. Methods: The Active Ottumwa study is part of a community-academic partnership in Ottumwa, IA. Evidence-based strategies recommended by the Community Guide for Preventive Services guided study implementation and included behavioral and social, campaign and informational, and environmental and policy approaches. Evaluation methods for this study are multi-faceted and include a cross-sectional community survey, longitudinal cohort assessment, observational data, key informant interviews, and project records. Results: We are currently in our second year of intervention implementation, with 45 lay health advisors (termed physical activity leaders here) trained to carry out behavioral and social intervention approaches, including walking groups, tai chi, and yoga. We have completed a communication and informational campaign utilizing five channels. Our longitudinal cohort has been recruited, with baseline and 12-month data collection completed. Conclusions: This study will assess the effectiveness and impact of a community-wide intervention to support physical activity.

What Motivates Young Adults to Talk About Physical Activity on Social Network Sites?

Background

Electronic word-of-mouth on social network sites has been used successfully in marketing. In social marketing, electronic word-of-mouth about products as health behaviors has the potential to be more effective and reach more young adults than health education through traditional mass media. However, little is known about what motivates people to actively initiate electronic word-of-mouth about health behaviors on their personal pages or profiles on social network sites, thus potentially reaching all their contacts on those sites.

Objective

This study filled the gap by applying a marketing theoretical model to explore the factors associated with electronic word-of-mouth on social network sites about leisure-time physical activity.

Methods

A Web survey link was sent to undergraduate students at one of the Midwestern universities and 439 of them completed the survey.

Results

The average age of the 439 participants was 19 years (SD=1 year, range: 18-24). Results suggested that emotional engagement with leisure-time physical activity (ie, affective involvement in leisure-time physical activity) predicted providing relevant opinions or information on social network sites. Social network site users who perceived stronger ties with all their contacts were more likely to provide and seek leisure-time physical activity opinions and information. People who provided leisure-time physical activity opinions and information were more likely to seek opinions and information, and people who forwarded information about leisure-time physical activity were more likely to chat about it.

Conclusions

This study shed light on the application of the electronic word-of-mouth theoretical framework in promoting health behaviors. The findings can also guide the development of future social marketing interventions using social network sites to promote leisure-time physical activity.

Associations of fluoride intake with children's bone measures at age 11

BACKGROUND

Relationships between fluoride intake and bone health continue to be of interest, as previous studies show conflicting results.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose is to report associations of fluoride intake with bone measures at age 11.

METHODS

Subjects have been participating in the ongoing Iowa Fluoride Study/Iowa Bone Development Study. Mothers were recruited postpartum during 1992-95 from eight Iowa hospitals, and detailed fluoride questionnaires were sent every 1.5-6 months. From these, combined fluoride intakes from water sources (home, childcare, filtered, bottled), other beverages, selected foods, dietary fluoride supplements and dentifrice were estimated at individual points and cumulatively [with area under the curve (AUC)]. Subjects underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans of proximal femur (hip), lumbar spine and whole body (Hologic QDR 4500A). DXA results (bone mineral content - BMC; bone mineral density - BMD) were related to fluoride intake as revealed by bivariate and multivariable analyses.

RESULTS

The mean fluoride intake estimated by AUC was 0.68 mg (SD = 0.27) per day from birth to 11 years. Associations (Spearman) between daily fluoride intake (mg F/day) and DXA bone measures were weak (r = -0.01 to 0.24 for girls and 0.04 to 0.24 for boys). In gender-stratified, and body size- and Tanner stage-adjusted linear regression analyses, associations between girls' bone outcomes and fluoride intake for girls were almost all negative; associations for boys were all positive and none was statistically significant when using an alpha = 0.01 criterion.

CONCLUSIONS

Longitudinal fluoride intake at levels of intake typical in the United States is only weakly associated with BMC or BMD in boys and girls at age 11. Additional research is warranted to better understand possible gender- and age-specific effects of fluoride intake on bone development.

Physical activity and bone development during childhood and adolescence. Implications for the prevention of osteoporosis

Osteoporotic fractures are a debilitating and a frequently fatal health problem for older adults. A growing body of evidence indicates that osteoporosis has its origin in early life and that the level of development of bone mass during childhood and adolescence strongly influences the risk for osteoporotic fractures. The development of osteoporosis results from an interaction between 1) bone mass accrual via growth, remodeling, and modeling during childhood and adolescence and 2) the maintenance of bone mass (primarily via remodeling) during adulthood. Peak bone mass which occurs at the conclusion of growth may be the most important factor for preventing osteoporosis since as much bone is accrued during the adolescent years as most individuals will lose during all of adult life. In this review, I examine the contribution of physical activity as an important behavioral determinant of children's bone development, particularly of peak bone mass. Since it is a behavior, physical activity is a potentially modifiable determinant of peak bone mass; therefore, understanding activity's impact on bone health is central to developing primary prevention strategies for osteoporosis.

Levels of Involvement by Sonographers in Transesophageal Echocardiographic Examinations

A survey of hospital-based echocardiography laboratories in California, Oregon, and Washington was conducted to determine the level of sonographer involvement in transesophageal echocardiographic examinations. For the 113 sites included in the study, the levels of involvement were ranked in the following descending order: preparation and cleanup for the procedure (94%), manipulation of the ultrasound controls (94%), explanation of the procedure to the patient (58%), manipulation of the probe (13%), and insertion of the probe (2%). Sonographer education and registry was also studied to determine whether it was related to level of involvement, but no correlation was found.