Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109010

Kristi L. Allgood, MPH¹, Ami M. Shah, MPH², and Steven Whitman, PhD². (1) Urban Health Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, 15th at California Ave, K449, Chicago, IL 60608, 773-257-2525, sankr@sinai.org, (2) Sinai Health System, Sinai Urban Health Institute, California Ave at 15th St., K439, Chicago, IL 60608

Modest amounts of physical activity (PA) may have substantial health benefits. Even small increases in PA have been shown to improve risk factors for chronic illness such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes, to name a few. Nationally, 59% of Americans are overweight or obese, and about 52% of adults are not engaging in even moderate PA. While the need to combat obesity and better control chronic diseases is paramount, efforts are hindered by the lack of community level data.

A comprehensive health survey was implemented in six racially/ethnically diverse community areas in Chicago. Face to face interviews were completed with 1,699 adults from randomly selected households. One goal was to determine the proportion of adults engaging in moderate PA to provide important policy considerations for local initiatives.

The survey reveals that approximately 33% of the respondents are meeting the moderate recommendation for PA compared to 47% nationally. Rates of PA ranged from 15%-36%. In a mostly Mexican community, only 15% are meeting this recommendation. In general, in areas where we found high proportions of overweight/obese adults, we also found low levels of activity. Finally, the moderately active respondents were less likely to report fair/poor self-rated health than the sedentary respondents, 29% and 43%, respectively.

Our presentation will examine the levels of physical activity in these communities compared to those in the US, present rates of inactivity and the barriers communities face in being active, and explore PA in the context of the obesity epidemic in these communities.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the need for community level data to determine underlying causes of risk factors associated with geographic health disparities;
• Present variations in levels of physical activity compared to Chicago and national averages;
• Understand the importance of the social and environmental context of health in developing effective interventions and improved policies to combat obesity and other chronic conditions in minority communities.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation