Author: Lauren Lopez

Obesity does not just take years off of an obese individual’s life; it takes hard earned money from every American’s wallet. According to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Research Digest, “Physical inactivity accounts for about 2.4 percent of U.S. health care or approximately $24 billion a year (Colditz, 1999). Physical inactivity is a leading contributor to morbidity and disability, accounting for 22 percent of coronary heart disease, 22 percent of colon cancer, 18 percent of osteoporotic fractures, 12 percent of diabetes and hypertension, and 5 percent of breast cancer (Colditz, 1999).” Physical activity intervention programs, such as the “On the Go” program, can work to increase the amount of physical activity among communities and aid in decreasing the amount of obese citizens.

The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Research Digest recognized the need for community-based intervention programs to promote active lifestyles and has recommended the use of educational and social support approaches for intervention programs implemented in the community setting (Heath, 2003). The “On the Go” intervention program was created with both strategies in mind by incorporating a Web site full of educational and motivational information and using pedometers to monitor individuals activities and record it in a Web-based logging system. The program’s Web site is tailored to a particular organization or institution and strongly encourages the use of support groups.

The informational approach attempts to increase physical activity by providing general information that aims to motivate and enable individuals to modify their behavior. The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Research Digest recommends that programs using the informational approach should distribute information on cardiovascular disease prevention, risk reduction and detailed information about physical activity and exercise (Heath, 2003). The “On the Go” program has an interactive Web site full of motivational information on physical activity and also includes a risk assessment calculator. A member can assess their risk by entering their hip and waist measurements into the Web site’s risk assessment calculator. The calculator will then inform the individual whether or not they are at risk.

A social support intervention is defined, by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Research Digest, as an intervention program that focuses on “changing physical activity behavior through building, strengthening and maintaining social networks that provide supportive relationships for behavior change, specifically physical activity.” The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports suggests social support intervention programs should include any of the following: initiating a “buddy” system, creating specific and measurable physical activity goals in a group to strive to reach together or starting walking groups where members network and support each other (Heath, 2003). The “On the Go” program advises members to form buddy systems or large supportive groups to meet and exercise together in order to meet their individual exercise goals.