Healthy People 2020's Physical Activity Objectives completes a trifecta of physical activity publications for physical activity professionals, advocates and enthusiasts. The first ever publication of a set of science based, government issued Physical Activity Guidelines were released in October of 2008 and May 2010 brought the launch of the nation's first health plan for physical activity, the National Physical Activity Plan.

The National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity is providing the leadership for implementation of the Physical Activity Plan. NCPPA recognized the importance of working to insure that the objectives listed in HP2020 be complementary to those included in the NPAP. Many NCPPA member organizations offered comments on the proposed HP2020 physical activity objectives as did the Coalition itself.

NCPPA recently published our first implementation report; Make The Move, 2010-2011 Implementation of the National Physical Activity Plan. Make the Move details the priorities identified in each of the sectors, states their goals and objectives and how they plan to achieve them and lists a variety of success stores as well.

Many of the physical activity objectives included in HP2020 physical parallel those identified as priorities by the NPAP sector implementation teams. A few examples are included below:

NPAP: Ensure that early childhood education settings for children ages 0 to 5 years promote and facilitate physical activity.

HP2020: Increase the number of States with licensing regulations for physical activity provided in child care.

NPAP: Encourage business and industry to interact with all other sectors to identify opportunities to promote physical activity within the workplace and throughout society

HP2020: Increase the proportion of employed adults who have access to and participate in employer-based exercise facilities and exercise programs.

NPAP: Prioritize resources and provide incentives to increase active transportation and other physical activity through community design, infrastructure projects, systems, policies, and initiatives.

HP2020: Increase legislative policies for the built environment that enhance access to and availability of physical activity opportunities.

The examples listed above are great ideas…but now the time has come to walk the walk rather than simply talk the talk…in other words, work together to make these things happen! Please visit the NCPPA website to sign your organization up to get involved with the implementation of the Nation's first Physical Activity Plan.

What is your organization doing in the areas listed above to increase the number of Americans achieving the PAG?

Dec. 21 marked the winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere), signaling the long-awaited return of longer days and the warmth of spring. The solstice, coinciding with traditional holiday celebrations, has always given hope to people struggling with the challenges of cold weather and long, dark nights.

The month of January offers more reason for hope in the form of Healthy People 2020, a collaborative process by which the CDC provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. The proposed objectives for physical activity and fitness show the influence of ACSM and its members, including in-person testimony by Past President Angela Smith, M.D., FACSM and online comments by numerous members/experts.

ACSM was not a lone voice crying in the wilderness, however. Many experts, speaking alone or on behalf of professional societies and other organizations, cited the demonstrated importance of physical activity for health. Their consensus informs the plan, which includes baseline measures, 10-year targets and data sources.

A few observations:

• Healthy People 2020 will serve as a companion to the National Physical Activity Plan (a frequent topic on this blog). The Plan provides a roadmap for achieving the changes needed to reach the targets spelled out in HP2020. Taken together—and taken seriously—the two can be transformative.
• The baseline measures document the need. For example, 36.2 percent of adults engaged in no leisure-time physical activity in 2008, according to the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey.
• The targets are modest, calling for a 10-percent improvement across the board. Surely, our nation can move the needle in 10 years so that, for instance, 8.7 percent of physician office visits include counseling about exercise.

The latter (part of Objective 11) was proposed by ACSM, expanding the original objective which called for counseling about exercise for patients with chronic diseases. Both embody the essence of Exercise is Medicine®. Acting on them would profoundly affect the well-being of millions of people and vastly reduce health care costs.

As we prepare for the chills of January, physical activity advocates will be warmed by the prospect of other objectives we have long supported. HP2020 also calls for the following, to choose a few:

• Increasing the proportion of adults and adolescents who meet physical activity guidelines (Objectives 2 and 3, respectively).
• More trips by walking (13) and bicycling (14).
• Changes to the built environment to expand opportunities for physical activity (15). Sound familiar? This is a bedrock principle of the National Physical Activity Plan.
• More physical education (4, 5) and recess (6, 7) in schools; less screen time for kids (8).
• Opening public and private school facilities outside of school hours to provide opportunities for physical activity for the community (10).

Healthy People 2020 is comprehensive, measurable and laden with the potential for positive change—the fruit of a well-managed public/private collaboration. Implementing it falls to all of us: states, cities, communities, organizations of all types, and individuals. I propose we each seek our role, using the MAP-IT framework familiar to those involved with implementing public health interventions. Let’s insist on success and get to work on a decade of change.

Which objectives of Healthy People 2020 relate most directly to your work?
Which could have the greatest impact on your community?