Prevention Research Centers - Addressing Chronic Diseases in the Americas - PRC

Addressing Chronic Diseases in the Americas
Two Prevention Research Centers and a Wide Network of Collaborators Search Brazil and Latin America for Solutions

June 2010

The Problem with Progress
As countries become industrialized, rates of physical inactivity often rise, and so can the risks of chronic illnesses. PRC researchers and their partners are searching for new ways to promote healthy physical activities.

“If a day goes by and I don’t come to the ‘City Gym,’ I think my weight goes up 10 kilos!” says Andreia Lima Da Silva, a condominium caretaker in Recife, Brazil. Ms. Lima overstates her potential 20-pound daily weight gain but not her enthusiasm for free exercise classes led by professional trainers at sites around the city. Evaluation of the program, Academia da Cidade (Portuguese for “City Gym”), is one component of a multinational effort that involves CDC’s Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) in reversing the growing trend of physical inactivity among people in the industrialized world. Inactivity puts everyone at risk for diseases like diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer, and other serious health conditions.

To reverse the trend in the Americas, a group of researchers, government health officials, doctors, and community groups are collaborating to find, test, document, and share the most effective strategies that encourage people to include enough physical activity in their weekly schedules. The researchers are working to develop international networks of public health partners, lists of published interventions, and an established process to develop and disseminate the most-promising physical-activity programs. These programs benefit people like Ms. Lima and fellow Recife resident and Academia participant Jaciara Gomes Barbosa Dos Santos.

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Prevention Research Centers - Addressing Chronic Diseases in the Americas - PRC