Stand Up For Health; Understanding sedentary behaviors & working towards healthy solutions

PROJECT PARTNERS

• The Netherlands Twin Register

FUNDING

This project is funded through the ReVanche Program of the Emgo+ Institute for Health and Care Research

BACKGROUND

Changing sedentary behavior patterns in modern societies is increasingly deemed to be a public health priority and understanding the determinants of sedentary behavior is of utmost importance to this end. Much research has focused on potential environmental determinants such as socioeconomic status or the built environment. However, even under identical circumstances, some individuals are more predisposed towards a sedentary lifestyle than others. These individual differences must be due to factors that reside within the person, more specifically due to their genetic material. Twin- and family studies lend themselves to investigate the contribution of genes and the environment to a trait. In addition, they allow for a test of the association between two traits while controlling for genetic and shared environmental factors.

OBJECTIVES

This project has three main objectives, namely (1) to determine the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to subjectively and objectively assessed sedentary behavior, (2) to identify genetic variants that are related to sedentary behavior, and (3) to assess the relationship between sedentary behavior and cardio-metabolic health.

DESIGN

The STAND UP FOR HEALTH project uses survey data, DNA data and data on biomarkers for cardio-metabolic health of the Netherlands Twin Register. In addition, accelerometer data are being collected in a large number of twins and their siblings as part of the project.

To address objective 1, genetic twin models will be fitted on survey data and accelerometer data. These models allow the decomposition of variance into variance that is (1) due to genes, (2) due to the part of the environment that two twins of a pair share, or (3) due to the part of the environment that they do not share. Objective 2 will be addressed by means of an association study between sedentary behavior and genetic DNA markers. Finally, the association between sedentary behavior and biomarkers in the blood will be examined while controlling for genetic background and shared environmental effects.

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The effect of schoolzones on children's physical activity

FUNDING

The project is funded by the Sport programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw).

PROJECT PARTNERS

• TNO

• the Amsterdam Public Health Service

• Jantje Beton Foundation

• the Netherlands Institute for Sport and Physical Activity (NISB)

• Royal HaskoningDHV

• the City Region of Amsterdam

• The Hague University of Applied Sciences

BACKGROUND

When children are involved in physical activity from an early age, this has a positive effect on their health later in life. This, in turn, will reduce future healthcare costs. That is why there is a great need for effective measures that stimulate children to be physically active. The built environment, and especially the school environment, can play a major role in promoting youth’s physical activity levels. The school environment provides the opportunity to reach children with diverse backgrounds within a setting in which children spend a large proportion of their time. Research has shown that a safer environment with sufficient crossing points and play areas has a positive effect on the amount of sports and exercise that children engage in.

SCHOOLZONES

In recent years, local Dutch governments have started to promote the traffic safety in the vicinity of primary school buildings, designating these area as a so-called ‘schoolzone’. Schoolzones increase traffic safety in the primary school area through infrastructural changes. These changes may include measures such as sidewalk improvements, traffic calming, pedestrian or bicycle crossings, bicycle facilities and traffic signs. Besides these infrastructural changes, education of the parents and enforcement of new regulations are an important part of the schoolzone. If, in addition to increasing traffic safety, these school zones have a positive influence on the amount sports and physical activity in youth, this can be an added incentive for local authorities to invest in them. TNO and the VU University Medical Center (VUmc) are conducting research to establish whether school zones are also encouraging children to be physically active.

STUDY METHODS

The School Zones project runs for three years (2013-2016) andcompares  schools that acquire schoolzones with those that do not. In total, 10 primary schools in the Netherlands will take part in the study. Physical activity and location of 400 children in stage 6 and 7 (9-11 years old) will be monitored using accelerometers and GPS. In addition to this objective measurement of physical activity, changes in the school environment will be assessed using questionnaires and observations. The cost-effectiveness of various measures will also be studied. This will provide insight into the factors that determine the success or failure of school zones to stimulate physical activity.

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Recent posts

The trAPP-study: Treatment of acute ankle sprains in general practice

PROJECT PARTNERS

•  ErasmusMC

FUNDING

This project is funded by a grant of The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw)(project number 80-83910-98-13003) and the Dutch Arthritis Foundation. 

BACKGROUND

Ankle sprains are one of the most frequent injuries of the musculoskeletal system, with yearly around 680.000 new sprains in the Netherlands. Of these, about 130.000 people will visit the general practitioner (GP) each year. In addition, patients have an increased risk of a recurrent ankle sprain and about a third report at least one re-sprain. No optimal treatment strategy has proven to be effective in general practice. However, promising results were achieved by a recent preventive trial conducted among athletes in the Netherlands. An unsupervised neuromuscular training program was effective in the prevention of re-sprains. When this intervention also appears to be effective in general practice and could reduce the number of re-sprains, direct treatment tools will be available for the GP for acute ankle sprains

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this project is to examine the (cost)-effectiveness of an unsupervised e-health supported neuromuscular training program in combination with usual care in general practice compared to usual care alone in patients with acute ankle sprains in general practice.

DESIGN

This study is a multi-center, open-label randomized controlled trial, with a one-year follow-up. Patients with an acute lateral ankle sprain, aged between 14 and 65 years and visiting the GP within three weeks of injury are eligible for inclusion. Patients will be randomized in two study groups. The intervention group will receive, in addition to usual care, a standardized eight-week neuromuscular training program guided by an App. The control group will receive usual care in general practice alone. The primary outcome of this study is the total number of ankle sprain recurrences reported during one year follow-up. Secondary outcomes are subjective recovery after one year follow-up, pain at rest and during activity, function, return to sport, cost-effectiveness and compliance of the intervention. Measurements will take place monthly for the study period of 12 months after baseline measurement

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