COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC-HEALTH APPROACHES TO THE PROMOTION OF PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY

Research in the exercise adherence area over the past several decades has resulted in the identification of a number of promising methods fo r influencing physical activity on the individual level. The substanti al prevalence of underactivity across most sectors of the American pop ulation, however, demands that higher-level approaches to physical act ivity promotion that include environmental, organizational, and policy -level strategies be increasingly brought to bear on this problem. Thi s paper compares individual and community approaches to physical activ ity intervention and provides examples of how the community/public hea lth approach to physical activity promotion can be implemented to faci litate increases in population-wide physical activity.