Faculty Bibliography

Increasing global urbanization limits interaction between people and natural environments, which may negatively impact population health and wellbeing. Urban residents who live near parks report better mental health. Physical activity (PA) reduces depression and improves quality of life. Despite PA's protective effects on mental health, the added benefit of urban park use for PA is unclear. Thus, we examined whether park-based PA mediated associations between park proximity and mental distress among 3652 New York City residents (61.4% 45 + years, 58.9% female, 56.3% non-white) who completed the 2010-2011 Physical Activity and Transit (PAT) random-digit-dial survey. Measures included number of poor mental health days in the previous month (outcome), self-reported time to walk to the nearest park from home (exposure), and frequency of park use for sports, exercise or PA (mediator). We used multiple regression with bootstrap-generated 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals (BC CIs) to test for mediation by park-based PA and moderation by gender, dog ownership, PA with others, and perceived park crime. Park proximity was indirectly associated with fewer days of poor mental health via park-based PA, but only among those not concerned about park crime (index of moderated mediation = 0.04; SE = 0.02; 95% BC CI = 0.01, 0.10). Investment in park safety and park-based PA promotion in urban neighborhoods may help to maximize the mental health benefits of nearby parks.

OBJECTIVE:The use of financial incentives to promote physical activity (PA) has grown in popularity due in part to technological advances that make it easier to track and reward PA. The purpose of this study was to update the evidence on the effects of incentives on PA in adults. DATA SOURCES/METHODS:Medline, PubMed, Embase, PsychINFO, CCTR, CINAHL and COCH. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA/UNASSIGNED:Randomised controlled trials (RCT) published between 2012 and May 2018 examining the impact of incentives on PA. DESIGN/METHODS:A simple count of studies with positive and null effects ('vote counting') was conducted. Random-effects meta-analyses were also undertaken for studies reporting steps per day for intervention and post-intervention periods. RESULTS:23 studies involving 6074 participants were included (64.42% female, mean age = 41.20 years). 20 out of 22 studies reported positive intervention effects and four out of 18 reported post-intervention (after incentives withdrawn) benefits. Among the 12 of 23 studies included in the meta-analysis, incentives were associated with increased mean daily step counts during the intervention period (pooled mean difference (MD), 607.1; 95% CI: 422.1 to 792.1). Among the nine of 12 studies with post-intervention daily step count data incentives were associated with increased mean daily step counts (pooled MD, 513.8; 95% CI:312.7 to 714.9). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:after incentives were removed, though post-intervention 'vote counting' and pooled results did not align. Nonetheless, and contrary to what has been previously reported, these findings suggest a short-term incentive 'dose' may promote sustained PA.

Background/UNASSIGNED:Dynamic nutrition education strategies may help prepare physicians to provide nutrition guidance to patients. Activity/UNASSIGNED:We pilot tested a nutrition-focused iBook chapter with a group of medical students and residents (June 2017) through pre and post-test Qualtrics surveys. Results/UNASSIGNED:All 29 respondents recognized the role of nutrition in medical care. Two-thirds reported some nutrition training in their medical education; nearly 90% reported this training was inadequate. Few (17%) reported reading scholarly nutrition articles; 84% reported they would recommend the iBook to their peers. Conclusions/UNASSIGNED:An iBook is a resource that could be used to teach nutrition to medical trainees.