Evaluation of a Community-Wide Initiative to Promote Physical Activity Breaks
Gramercy Research Group and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools have partnered to look at the impact of brief 10-minute exercise breaks during the day on health and related behaviors in children. Regular physical activity is recommended for improvement of overall health and to facilitate weight control. In children and adolescents (youth), PA also fosters optimal physical and cognitive growth and development. Schools are prime targets for interventions to increase PA among children since 95% of children are enrolled in school, attendance enforcement ensures high levels of exposure, and the organizational infrastructure permits institutionalization. Some states have begun to mandate minimum amounts of PA in which students engage, requiring that schools augment PE to increase PA levels. In North Carolina, a regulatory policy adopted in 2006 by the State Department of Education mandates that schools provide a minimum of 30 minutes of daily PA for children in grades K-8, over and above PE requirements (Healthy Active Children Policy, HSP-S-000).
Instant Recess is an innovative, information technology-based solution for incorporating PA into daily activity. Including brief bouts of exercise in the classroom setting may enhance children’s PA and fitness levels and outcomes of importance to educators, such as on-task behavior and decreased disruptiveness and, possibly academic performance, may increase administrative support and sustain teacher adherence. It is a 10-minute, moderate intensity, exercise break that can be easily adapted into the classroom setting.
This research is supported by funding from the UCLA Center to Eliminate Health Disparities.
For more information on physical activity breaks, please visit www.toniyancey.com/padres
Translating Dietary Trials Into the Community
Gramercy Research Group is partnering with researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine are looking at ways to provide an eating program for people who would like to lower their blood pressure by making healthy changes to their eating habits. The study will focus on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan, which has been shown to be effective for lowering blood pressure. The DASH eating plan is rich in fruits and vegetables, low fat dairy products, and lean meats.
For 12 weeks, the study will look at the effects of this healthy eating program in people who are African American, living with high blood pressure, and who reside in Winston-Salem, NC. This study will include two groups of volunteer participants. Both groups will be involved in a healthy eating program. All materials and study-related testing will be provided at NO COST TO YOU!
If you would like to participate, we ask that you attend an information session speak with our study team and learn more about the study. To determine if you qualify, a visit to the General Clinical Research Center at NC Baptist Hospital to collect health information will be required.
This research is supported by the National Institutes of Health (HL091303)
For more information or to register for an information session, please contact the study team at (336) 716-8747.
L.A.D.I.E.S. for a Better Life
The purpose of this research study is to evaluate three different approaches for increasing physical activity in African American women who are not currently doing enough physical activity. One approach will teach people about physical activity, in groups, using general principles (general physical activity program). The second approach will teach people about physical activity, in groups, using principles from the bible (faith-based physical activity program). The third approach will teach people about physical activity by giving them written materials created at the National Institutes of Health (control group). Control groups are used in research studies to see if the program being studied really does have an effect on physical activity. At the end of the study, people in the control group will also participate in either the general physical activity program or the faith-based physical activity program.
About 480 people from 24 churches in Forsyth County will take part in this study. About 160 people will be in the faith-based physical activity program, 160 people will be in the general physical activity program, and 160 people will be in the control group.
This research is supported by the National Institutes of Health (HL0945801)
If you would like more information or if your congregation would like to enroll in this study, please contact Irma Richardson via email at irichardson@gramercyresearch.com or via telephone at (336) 293-8540.