Community-Wide Programs To Encourage Exercise Might Fall Short

Ya think?

Programs that encourage communities to get more active are one strategy for stemming the global tide of obesity. Yet, a new review of studies says the evidence backing the effectiveness of these programs is poor.

"When we looked at the available research, we observed that research studies that had been conducted didn't universally work," said Philip R.A. Baker, Ph.D., an adjunct public health professor from Queensland University of Technology, in Australia.

"For example, some research studies claimed that community-wide programs improved physical activity and other studies did not," he added. "It was not possible to identify which components increased the likelihood of program success."

In an effort to combat obesity, communities have tried combining widespread advertising, new walking trails and special partnerships with businesses and schools to promote exercise. So far, Baker and his colleagues write, the interventions available to date have not effectively increased population levels of physical activity.

"Even the most intense interventions and longer-term studies failed to demonstrate consistent improvement" in activity, Baker said.

Absolutely.

And they never will given the conventional stupidity.