This week, we would like to spread the word about a couple of events that may be of interest to our readers:

CDC Webinar: Measurement of Active and Sedentary Behaviors
“Closing the Gaps in Self-Report Methods”
Slides are now available from this webinar.

This six-part webinar will provide:
- An overview of physical activity as a multidimensional health behavior
- An in-depth review of methods to measure active and sedentary behaviors by self-report
- An exploration of important issues when assessing physical activity in diverse populations

National Physical Activity Plan

“Reducing Liability Concerns and Getting Kids Active through Safe Routes to School (SRTS)”

August 11, 2010 1pm EST

Registration is free.

In this webinar, participants will learn:

-The basics of liability in the context of SRTS

-How school districts, nonprofit organizations, and others can reduce their liability in SRTS programs

-How SRTS programs can leave schools with a lower risk of liability than existed prior to the program

-Best practices for implementing SRTS programs and policies

-About new resources from NPAP

Do you know of any other learning opportunities coming up?

Antronette Yancey, MD-Creator of Instant Recess™, Meb Keflezighi-American marathon champion, Robert Sallis, MD, FACSM-Chair of Exercise is Medicine™

This is my last post as president of the American College of Sports Medicine (Tom Best, M.D.,  Ph.D., takes office at the conclusion of our 57^th Annual Meeting, June 2-5 in Baltimore). One special satisfaction of this remarkable year has been the opportunity for the College to play a role in the development and launch of the National Physical Activity Plan.

ACSM has contributed in several ways, all in keeping with our mission. Many of our member/experts served on the working groups that identified strategies and tactics for each of the Plan's eight sectors. Robert Sallis, M.D., led the Health Care working group. What could be more appropriate for the chair of the Exercise is Medicine^TM initiative than helping all Americans enjoy optimum health by ensuring they have opportunities for physical activity?

As the Plan now moves into implementation, I urge all ACSM members to become involved. As experts in an array of disciplines from education and research to clinical medicine and health/fitness, ACSM members have the skills and connections to carry the Plan's strategies to policy makers and others who can make them a reality.

We each have a personal stake in bringing about the kinds of changes called for in the Plan. Our children need to be more active at school. Our neighborhoods need sidewalks and pocket parks. Our roads need bike lanes. Our employers need to encourage workplace wellness, and so on.

The National Physical Activity Plan, like ACSM, is comprehensive, diverse and rich with opportunities. Helping implement the Plan embodies our role of translating knowledge into practice. Nothing could be more appropriate—and nothing could have a more profound impact on so many individuals and communities.

What opportunities does your professional role offer to help implement the National Physical Activity Plan?

What can you do as a member of your community to help bring opportunities for appropriate physical activity to each of your fellow citizens?

I’m very pleased to announce the first National Physical Activity Plan for the United States.  The launch on May 3rd represents the culmination of a two-year effort to develop the Plan and the beginning of the long-term effort to implement it.

Through implementation, government, private industry, non-profits, communities and individuals can now work together under a common set of strategies aimed at one thing; getting more Americans to be more physically active.  The Plan’s strategies and tactics provide a framework through which individuals and agencies can rally support for new physical activity-related initiatives and initiatives they may already be pursuing.

As a “living document,” available to the public at www.physicalactivityplan.org, the Plan will be evaluated and updated regularly to accurately reflect its successes and a fluid landscape of physical activity and public health policy.  As such, we welcome on-going feedback on the Plan’s Strategies and Tactics and encourage you and your colleagues to help keep the Plan fresh.  Is there one strategy or tactic of the plan that you endorse?  If so, please say which one and why you believe in its importance.