Active Living for Rural Youth

Funder:	Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
Research center:	Maine Rural Health Research Center Phone: 207.780.4513
Lead researcher:	David Hartley, PhD, MHA
Contact:	Anush Yousefian, MPHS, 207.228.8217 , ayousefian@usm.maine.edu
Project funded:	January 2007
Project completed:	December 2007
Topics:	Children Health promotion and disease prevention

This project will develop, test and refine a conceptual model that describes the interaction between the individual and the environment as it enhances or thwarts active living in rural communities. Our preliminary model builds on the ecological model of four domains of active living (recreation, transportation, occupation, and household) developed by Sallis and Owen (1999), combining it with Aday and Andersen’s (1974) model of access to care (pre-disposing and enabling factors), and Cervero and Kockelman’s (1997) basic elements of urban form (density, diversity, design). We will engage in qualitative data gathering in three rural communities using focus groups, individual interviews, and townscape audits. With the help of a broadly representative, multidisciplinary advisory committee, we will use these qualitative data to confirm and refine our conceptual model and to develop suggestions for interventions in homes, schools, and communities to facilitate increased physical activity among youth. This project will focus on youth in grades 4-12. Because low-income individuals in both urban and rural areas have a higher prevalence of obesity and lower levels of physical activity, we will focus on low SES children. It is our hope that future research can confirm the model’s applicability to working adults, and elders.

Research Questions:

1. Where, when and how do rural youth engage in physical activity?
2. Which elements and specific indicators of the rural environment (density, diversity, design) are meaningful in conceptualizing how the environment affects physical activity among youth?
3. Which of the active living domains (household, occupation, transportation, recreation) are the most amenable to interventions designed to increase physical activity among rural youth?
4. In addition to the physical environment, what other enabling factors are promising targets for interventions? (e.g. policies and programs)

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