How This Guide Can Be Used

Bright Futures in Practice: Physical Activity can be used in many settings, including child care facilities, schools, recreational facilities, health clinics and centers, and universities and colleges. Potential uses of the information fall into four main areas: clinical, community, policy, and education and training. Examples of uses appear below.

Clinical Uses

• Incorporate into each health supervision visit as outlined in Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents.

• Develop and evaluate physical activity programs.

• Implement standards of practice and protocol.

• Educate children, adolescents, and their families.

• Refer families to physical activ-ity resources.

• Support studies to determine the efficacy of Bright Futures physical activity guidelines.

Examples

• Use Interview Questions from the developmental chapters to gather information about the child's physical activity status. This is a useful starting point to determine further screening and assessment and counseling.

• Measure the child's or adolescent's height and weight, determine body mass index (BMI), and plot these on a CDC growth chart at each health supervision visit.

• Incorporate physical activity screening, assessment, and counseling information into health encounter forms.

• Incorporate Desired Outcomes (e.g., "uses appropriate safety equipment during physical activity") from the developmental chapters to track developmental milestones on health encounter forms.

• Implement recommendations for screening, assessment, and treatment of childhood obesity.

Community Uses

• Provide anticipatory guidance to families on developmentally appropriate physical activity.

• Provide information to community-based program staff to develop physical education activ-ities for children and adolescents.

• Develop physical education programs.

• Refer families to physical activity resources.

• Help schools incorporate physical activity education into the health curricula.

• Implement standards of practice and protocol.

Examples

• Develop a resource guide for child care program staff to promote regular physical activity for all children (including children and adolescents with special health care needs) enrolled in the program.

• Develop "fact sheets" for distribution to parents, physical education teachers, and coaches.

• Help children and adolescents in group homes and juvenile justice facilities obtain access to physical activity and knowledge of the relationships among body weight, fitness, body image, and substance use.

• Promote partnerships among health professionals, families, and the community (e.g., PTA members, principals, teachers, coaches) interested in promoting physical activity in schools.

Policy Uses

• Provide information to policymakers, program administrators, and community leaders on relevant physical activity issues and concerns.

• Obtain support for physical activity policies and
  programs.

• Develop standards of practice and protocol for physical activity programs.

Examples

• Incorporate information into state physical activity education guidelines and regulations.

• Incorporate information into policies for environmental support (e.g., well-maintained sidewalks, bicycle racks outside public facilities) that encourage physical activity.

• Revise health care guidelines for managed care settings to cover physical activity screening, assessment, and counseling for infants, children, and adolescents.

• Focus advocacy efforts on promoting the use of protective gear to reduce sports-related injuries.

• Focus advocacy efforts to develop and implement a policy for appropriate fluid breaks during physical activity practice and competition when temperature and humidity levels are high.

• Use physical activity guidelines to help develop cost-effectiveness studies of physical activity interventions in health care and community settings.

Education and Training Uses

• Educate and train other health professionals and paraprofessionals.

• Provide in-service education and training to staff.

• Use the physical activity guide as a textbook or reference.

Examples

• Incorporate information into a self-paced training module and offer to health professionals for continuing education credits.

• Incorporate information into medicine, nursing, nutrition, and other health professional training programs.

• Incorporate information into materials for physical education teachers and coaches.

• Plan monthly physical activity case conferences in training programs, using physical activity supervision guidelines. Use "Desired Outcomes" from the developmental chapters to evaluate developmental milestones and formulate physical activity action plans.

• Use the guide as the textbook for a distance learning course.

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