On your bike

Preventive Medicine offers several articles on physical exercise interventions, including a UK study on the contribution of active travel to physical activity levels in schoolchildren, the effect of a school-based active commuting intervention and a population-based RCT of a pedometer combined with an intervention toolkit for people with low levels of fitness or physical activity. A systematic review in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine assesses the state of knowledge on adult sedentary behaviour.

Steady as she goes

Tai chi retains its status as exercise regime of choice for a range of health conditions. A recent trial of a tailored Tai chi programme to improve postural stability with people with Parkinson's disease found benefit amongst mild to moderate Parkinson's sufferers. Research in Sports Medicine offers another review of this form of exercise for falls prevention. Elsewhere, Tai chi is described as a "promising intervention" for reducing fracture risk amongst older osteopenic women. Exercise of any kind is recommended for people with chronic illness and depressive symptoms in a systematic review.

Halcyon daze

Healthy Ageing Across the Life Course, or HALCyon is an interdisciplinary study looking at the factors that contribute to healthy ageing. A survey of early findings from five of the eight workstreams appears in the journal Public Health. The Department of Work and Pensions has released its final report on the Active at 60 pilot into the scope for using smart technology for delivering services to older people. The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health publishes an evaluation study of a "worksite vitality intervention" for older hospital workers.

Keep up

There's a raft of evaluations and monitoring reports for active travel programmes, including the I Bike project in Scotland, the Living Streets community walking programme and the Travel Actively projects. A study of urban, multi-ethnic school children considers the association of active travel to school with general physical activity levels. Do "use the stairs" notices work, asks a team from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. This study examined the effectiveness of a prompt ("burn calories, not electricity") across a range of different sized buildings and found an immediate increase in stair climbing, which was also maintained after 9 months. An analysis of the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study adds a little more to the sum of knowledge about the dynamic relationship between fitness, overweight and cardiovascular health. Exercise on prescription schemes are examined in a systematic review and meta-analysis and are found to be of uncertain value in increasing physical activity, fitness and other health outcomes. A cost effectiveness study also suggested that exercise referral schemes only delivered a "modest increase in lifetime costs and benefits."