Physical Activity: Strategies and Resources

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Increase Physical Activity Access and Outreach

Providing and promoting places for people to be physically active may increase public use of these facilities as well as help boost peoples’ physical activity levels. This can include creating and improving walking trails, building exercise facilities, and providing access to existing facilities.

Create or enhance access to places for physical activity with focus on walking combined with informational outreach.

Initiatives to provide access to places for physical activity may increase public use of these facilities and physical activity levels. Initiatives may include informational outreach such as directed promotion to target audiences.

Design Street and Communities for Physical Activity

Bridge with bike and walk lanes

Designing streets and communities for physical activity involves the efforts of planners, architects, engineers, developers, and public health professionals to change the physical environment of small geographic and urban areas in ways that support physical activity, such as through land use policies and urban design.

Program Highlights
Evaluability Assessments

Evaluability assessments are used to better understand innovative policies and initiatives being implemented in states and communities. The following “spotlights” on Active Transportation initiatives summarize program functions and accomplishments, and provide considerations for those wanting to implement similar initiatives.

Intervention Examples
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Implement Physical Activity in Early Care and Education (ECE)

ECE providers have significant opportunities to establish healthy activity habits in children. This is important because habits formed early in life can track into adulthood. Despite significant variation across states in how the ECE system is organized and operated, there is a common ‘Spectrum of Opportunities’ Cdc-pdf[PDF 500KB] by which most states can support the adoption of physical activity standards within the ECE setting as part of a comprehensive obesity prevention approach.

Implement ECE standards for physical activity

Ensure that ECE facilities and/or ECE jurisdictions serving 0 – 5 year olds, including preschools, child care centers, day care homes (also known as family child care), and Head Start and pre-kindergarten programs, meet national standards for physical activity.

Program Highlights
Resources
  • NAP SACC ModuleExternal (Username and password required)
    This training is designed for those interested in adopting the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment in Child Care (NAP SACC) intervention in their state or community. The training provides step by step instructions on implementing NAP SACC. This training and the accompanying materials will allow users to fully implement the NAP SACC program.
Intervention Examples
  • Eat Well Play Hard in Child Care Settings [PDF-200KB]External
    This multi-component intervention focuses on improving the nutrition and physical activity behaviors of pre-school age children and their parents/caregivers by using educational strategies and skill building activities to promote healthy behavior change.
  • Policy Regulations for Day Care in New York City [PDF-200KB]External
    These policy regulations were implemented to improve the physical activity and nutrition practices in NYC group day care facilities. They include specific guidelines for outdoor play and physical activity, limits on television viewing, and requirements for food and food areas.
  • Color Me Healthy [PDF-200KB]External
    This intervention was designed to increase physical activity and improve fruit and vegetable intake among 4 and 5 year old children in child care and preschool settings. It focuses on increased opportunities for physical activity and exposure to nutrition education.
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General Physical Activity Resources

Program Highlights

Links to non-federal government organizations found in this document are provided solely as a service to the reader. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the federal government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization sites listed on this website.

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Page last reviewed: February 10, 2019
Content source: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion