Youth street dance at Family Fitness Days in San Diego, Ca

When we first launched the Be Active Your Way Blog, we aimed to create a space where professionals could share successes, ideas, and lessons about physical activity promotion. We successfully accomplished this through regular guest bloggers discussing promotion strategies, but we have decided it is time to kick it up a notch. We want to increase information sharing about successful strategies to promote the Physical Activity Guidelines.

We know that the readers of this blog (you!) are active in promoting physical activity in a multitude of different ways in a diverse array of settings. It’s time to share information about these programs and how they address the tough task of promoting physical activity. How do your programs do it? What are the barriers? How do you know that your hard work is paying off? How could others implement programs similar to yours?

Starting this week, we will feature weekly Program Spotlight blogs. These blogs will give you the chance to see how your peers are fighting the fight. We hope that these blogs will give you a chance to see the innovations of others and apply what they have learned to your own work. Each blog will include information about barriers that were faced, ways the programs are evaluated, and tips for how to implement similar programs.

We encourage you to get involved with the Program Spotlight blogs. Comment on the blogs about programs you like to show your support or better yet, if you have a program you would like to share with the community, let us know! Leave us details about the program in a comment below, and we can get back to you about how your program could possibly be spotlighted one week.

Welcome to a new addition to the blog!

Once a week we will be posting a few links to current events, research, and other physical activity-related news-worthy items going on around the country. To kick off our News & Reports category this week we have new research on the cost of distributing tailored information about physical activity online vs. in print and news of a a new role for renowned golfer Annika Sorenstam. Check it out and tell us what you think in the comments:

• Cost Analysis of Internet vs. Print Interventions for Physical Activity Promotion - The authors examined the costs of distributing tailored information about physical activity online and in print and concluded that internet-based information was a more cost-effective way of reaching large numbers of sedentary individuals. (Source: Psychology of Sport and Exercise – article in press)
• Annika Sorenstam Appointed to Florida Governor's Council on Physical Fitness - The golfer takes on a new challenge: getting Floridians to increase their levels of physical fitness through initiatives like the Governor's Fitness Challenge for middle schoolers.