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An online cross-sectional survey was used to examine 475 adults (239 men and 236 women) on physical activity level, barriers to physical activity participation, and attitudes towards personal aging. Participants were grouped, by citizenship and residence, as Indians in India, Indians in the United States, or Americans in the United States. Cross-cultural differences were observed on self-rated general health, occurrence of preventive examinations, and several barriers to physical activity. Physical activity level was positively correlated with self-rated general health, and with optimism regarding aging, suggesting that enhanced physical activity may hold the key to a higher evaluation of personal health, and more positive expectations of aging.

Purpose: Dog owners represent 40% of the population, a promising audience to increase population levels of physical activity. The purpose of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of a new instrument to assess social-cognitive theory constructs related to dog walking. Method: Dog owners ("N" = 431) completed the Dogs and WalkinG Survey (DAWGS). Survey items assessed dog-walking behaviors and self-efficacy, social support, outcome expectations, and outcome expectancies for dog walking. Test-retest reliability was assessed among 252 (58%) survey respondents who completed the survey twice. Factorial validity and factorial invariance by age and walking level were tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Results: DAWGS items demonstrated moderate test - retest reliability (? = 0.39 - 0.79; k = 0.41 -- 0.89). Acceptable model fit was found for all subscales. All subscales were invariant by age and walking level, except self-efficacy, which showed mixed evidence of invariance. Conclusions: The DAWGS is a psychometrically sound instrument for examining individual and interpersonal correlates of dog walking.

The Exercise Assessment and Screening for You (EASY) is a tool developed to help older individuals, their health care providers, and exercise professionals identify different types of exercise and physical activity regimens that can be tailored to meet the existing health conditions, illnesses, or disabilities of older adults. The EASY tool includes 6 screening questions that were developed based on an expert roundtable and follow-up panel activities. The philosophy behind the EASY is that screening should be a dynamic process in which participants learn to appreciate the importance of engaging in regular exercise, attending to health changes, recognizing a full range of signs and symptoms that might indicate potentially harmful events, and becoming familiar with simple safety tips for initiating and progressively increasing physical activity patterns. Representing a paradigm shift from traditional screening approaches that focus on potential risks of exercising, this tool emphasizes the benefits of exercise and physical activity for all individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of acute dairy calcium intake on exercise energy metabolism and endurance performance. Trained female runners completed two trials. Each trial consisted of a 90-min glycogen depletion run followed by a self-paced 10K time trial, conducted one hour after consumption of a high dairy (500 mg Ca+2) or low dairy (80 mg Ca+2) meal. During the 90-min run, blood samples and respiratory gases were collected. No treatment main effects of acute dairy intake were found for respiratory exchange ratio (RER), calculated fat oxidation, lactate, glycerol, or 10K time. Following this protocol, acute dairy calcium intake did not alter fat utilization or endurance performance in trained female runners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assessing past activity in study populations is important in health-related research. This study examined intrasubject stability of a comprehensive, self-administered Historical Activity Questionnaire (HAQ) developed for women, age 18 to 30 y, participating in a larger (N = 153) intervention. Methods: Volunteers (n = 31) completed the HAQ at baseline and 6.5 months. Activity, (h/d) and metabolic equivalent (MET)-h/d, was divided into elementary, middle, high school, occupation, athletics, leisure, and exercise impact levels and loading. Results: (MET-h/d) cumulative, past activity test-retest was r = 0.76. Highest stability was in total athletic participation (r = 0.82), and impact 3 (r = 0.87). Loading test-retest was r = 0.51. Conclusions: The HAQ provides a moderately stable, user-friendly instrument for documenting past activity in young women, particularly for past athletic and high-impact activity recall. The addition of impact and loading activity makes this questionnaire unique, and provides a model for inclusion of these components in other activity questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possible interaction of race and diet in determining blood pressure was investigated. Forty-four percent of Black non-vegetarians had high blood pressure and took corrective medication. Only 18 percent of Black vegetarians, seven percent of White vegetarians and 22 percent of white non-vegetarians took such medication. When age and gender were considered, Black vegetarians had lower age and sex-adjusted systolic blood pressures than Black non-vegetarians. This remained true even after weight-for-height ratios and the ratio of waist to hip girth were taken into account. However, Black vegetarian blood pressure was still generally higher than that of whites, who showed no diet-related blood pressure differences.

This study aligned with the National Blueprint, a coalition of national organizations to identify the principal barriers to physical activity participation in older adults and to outline strategies for increasing physical activity levels. A community coalition took the initiative to conduct a baseline assessment of health attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors among community adults in order to understand the immediate needs of the adult community. Adults 50 and older (N = 309) completed surveys of health and physical activity (PA) behaviors. Individuals reported below average physical activity levels. Motives and barriers to PA differed by gender and race/ethnicity. Age and health perceptions significantly predicted PA levels. Findings support previous research with this age group, thus discussion of the utility of multi-level approaches (e.g., social ecological model) to health betterment in communities is forwarded. Providing multi-level resources (personal, social, environmental, policy) can increase opportunities for adoption and maintenance of health behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the psychometric characteristics of a Korean version of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 and the Bulimia Test in the U.S. Assessment on internal consistency and content validity; Increase in the number of eating disorders in ethnic women; Identification of anorexia nervosa.

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a 1500 mg/d calcium supplement taken over a 12-wk period, the mean arterial pressure of normotensive adult males (n = 37) was modestly but significantly lowered as compared with a placebo group (n = 38). Within the Ca group only, responders (≥ 5 mm Hg decrease in mean arterial pressure, n = 14) were compared with nonresponders (< 5 mm Hg decrease in mean arterial pressure, n = 23). The responders were older (p = 0.002) and exhibited higher mean arterial pressure (p = 0.00001), higher serum parathyroid hormone (p = 0.01), and lower serum total Ca (p = 0.001) at baseline. A stepwise discriminant function analysis revealed that mean arterial pressure and serum total Ca correctly classified 78.38% of the responders and nonresponders and, thus, were the most important determinants of blood pressure response to supplemental Ca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]