The Active Living Research 2014 Conference: "niche to norm".

Comments on the 2014 Active Living Research Conference theme(written by Keshia Pollack)WhenIthinkofthewordniche,phrasessuchasa“specializedplace”or a “distinct segment” come to mind. When it was time to identify thetheme for the 2014 Active Living Research (ALR) Conference, wethought about how some people consider the ﬁeld of active living aniche area. Because of this, it is not entirely surprisingly that aroundthe world, communities still lack sidewalks, pedestrians and bicyclistsare injured or killed by speeding trafﬁc, and physical inactivity remainsa global pandemic (Kohl et al., 2012). In selecting the theme “niche tonorm,”weaimedtorecognizetheimportanceofadvancingactivelivingfrom an emerging research ﬁeld with limited impact to well-acceptedﬁndings that guide every day decision-making across various sectorsto create more active communities. We wanted to encourage dialoguearound how to take evidence-based interventions that promote physi-cal activity mainstream, and we did just that.The Conference included workshops, oral and poster presentations,and keynote addresses documenting how environmental and policychanges that increase physical activity are increasingly more common.We heard presenters discuss complete street ordinances, which havebeen adopted in hundredsof communities. We learnedhow thousandsof schools are implementing evidence-based policies and programs toincrease youth activity and combat the childhood obesity epidemic.Tools such as Walk Score were described as a way to help millions ofhome buyers and renters ﬁnd walkable neighborhoods. My own workto develop and disseminate Promoting Safety is helping ensure that ef-fortstocreateenvironmentsthatfacilitateopportunitiesforphysicalac-tivityconsiderthefactthattransportation-relatedinjuriesareoneoftheleading causes of death for Americans ( U.S. Centers for Disease Controland Prevention, 2014). By partnering with architects, planners, trans-portation engineers, and colleagues from parks and recreation, weshowed how injury prevention and public health professionals canhelpensurethatnewandrenovatedspacesmaximizebothactivelivingand safety (Pollack et al., 2014–in this issue). These examples are just afewthatillustratehowworkingacrosssilosandengagingvariousstake-holders can help move active living from niche to norm.To build on the momentum from the 2014 ALR Annual Conference,there are many other exciting initiatives that those of us in the ﬁeld ofactive living can leverage to continue to take physical activity interven-tions mainstream. For instance, physical activity environments and re-lated policies are controlled by non-health sectors, including urbanplanning, transportation, parks and recreation, education, architecture,and corporations, among others, so active living and public health ex-perts need to have inputinto decision-makingthateffects our environ-ments (Sallis et al., 1998, 2006). There is emerging evidence regardingthe beneﬁts of using tools such as Health Impact Assessments (HIA) tointegrate health considerations and evidence into non-health sectors(Dannenberg et al., 2013). Across the United States, HIAs have opti-mizedhealthoutcomesandminimizedadverseimpacts,andidentiﬁed,for example, ways to promote opportunities for physical activity whenupdating comprehensive plans or zoning policies (Health ImpactProject, 2014). HIAs provide opportunities to deepen relationshipswith non-health sectors responsible for making decisions about envi-ronments and policies that affect physical activity, and evidence isemerging as to their roles in supporting health-promoting decisionsand changing the way communities are designed (Health ImpactProject, 2014).Wecansuccessfullytakeactivelivingfromtheperipherytothecore,from niche to norm, by continuing to strengthen and foster interdisci-plinary collaborations, and by reaching out to individuals in sectorswhereactivelivingisnottheircentralfocus.Thereisaneedtoestablishlong-term and collaborativeapproachestotranslate what worksandtodisseminateit widely.Manyof us in the ﬁeldhavebeguntodothis,andas we showed at the 2014 ALR Conference, we have a great foundationupon which to build and implement policies and environments thatpromote population-wide increases in physical activity.The 2014 Active Living Research Conference (written by JamesF. Sallis)Each ALR Conference attempts to perceptibly advance research andits translation to practice and policy. Our goal is to use research tomake meaningful contributions to improving environments and poli-cies that support active living, healthy weights, and a culture of health.In 2014 there was clear movement in taking active living from “nicheto norm” in public health and advocacy organizations, among govern-ment ofﬁcials, and to a global stage.Research was the major focus of the Conference, with 98 researchpresentations and posters. ALR attracts signiﬁcant and innovative re-search, and some of the best studies are published in this supplementto Preventive Medicine. The 2014 Conference was the second in whichpracticeandpolicysubmissionswereinvited,and44suchpresentationswereintermixedwithresearchpresentations.Thegoalofthedualfocusistofacilitatecommunication of researchtothosewhocanuseitandtoinform researchers about needs of practitioners and policymakers tostimulate future research.The public health presence at ALR2014 was strong, with keynotepresentation from Jonathan Fielding, Director and Health Ofﬁcer forthe Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and an overviewof the Institute of Medicine's report, “Evaluating Obesity Prevention Ef-forts,” from Lawrence Green of the University of California, San