It’s National Park Week in the US and the PACE Lab is celebrating all the amazing opportunities for physical activity, rest, rejuvenation, and learning! Did you know that Dr. Gay reviews the ParkRx program in her Public Health Physical Activity and Nutrition Interventions course? Students learn about the many health benefits of being active in nature and the efficacy of park prescription programs. Check out the National Park Service’s website for more information about National Park Week!
Meredith Wessel presented her semester-long project on Job Demands and the Impact on General Health. She found that workers who have more control and autonomy at work reported slightly worse general health than workers with less control and autonomy. How interesting! Meredith is an undergraduate honors student in the Health Promotion and Behavior department, and has been a PACE Lab member for almost two years. Congratulations on this achievement!
Congratulations to PACE Lab alum Chantal LaFlamme and Director Dr. Jennifer Gay for having their study, Psychological Aspects of Stair Use: A Systematic Review, published in the current issue of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine! This was a collaborative effort with Dr. Patrick O’Connor and one of his students from the UGA Department of Kinesiology. Great work everyone!
February is Heart Health Month, a time when we take stock of our cardiovascular health and risk factors for heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the state of Georgia, and ranks 14th in heart disease mortality (yikes!). Within Georgia, rates of high blood pressure are higher in our rural areas, highlighting the need for greater prevention efforts and access to care.
Members of the PACE Lab work toward more people living physically active lifestyles. Engaging in regular physical activity can reduce your risk of heart disease. One of our current projects, the Blue Gym of Georgia, is investigating ways to encourage people to be active outdoors and to improve the environment’s health at the same time.
For more information on American Heart Month, check out the CDC and American Heart Association for great resources on preventing heart disease, including the new American Heart Association campaign, Reclaim Your Rhythm.
Dr. Allison Smith led a research study into the physiological and psychological health concerns related to competitive cheerleading. In her sample all cheerleaders had low energy availability and more than half had both low energy availability with increased risk of disordered eating. The female athlete triad also consists of low bone mineral density and menstrual dysfunction, which Dr. Smith had a relatively high prevalence among her cheerleading sample.
Dr. Allison Smith recently received her PhD from the University of South Carolina, and is now faculty at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Dr. Jennifer Gay served on her dissertation committee and is co-author on the published study. The full article is published online.
The CDC recently released new data on state-level prevalence of physical inactivity. At least 25% of Georgians are physically inactive. This means they reported no physical activities like running, calisthenics, golf, gardening, or walking for exercise in the past month. Physical inactivity is associated with higher risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and many other chronic conditions. Check out the Active People, Healthy Nation initiative from CDC or the International Society for Physical Activity’s 8 Investments That Work for Physical Activity to learn how to engage your community in physical activity.
The mission of the PACE Lab is to reframe existing spaces for physical activity. Part of this work includes evaluating social and physical environments. Dr. Jennifer Gay is Co-Investigator on a new interdisciplinary team, the UGA Space and Planetary Science and Engineering Program. One of the goals of this program is to investigate space environmental effects on human health, medicine, and in-situ monitoring. Updates for this project will be posted online. Be sure to check it out!
