Toni Yancey, MD, MPH
Professor, UCLA School of Public Health and
Co-Director, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity
Which of the 8 Sectors are you involved in and why did you choose that particular sector?
Parks, Recreation, Fitness and Sports was my primary, and Public Health secondary. PRFS because of my work with pro sports players and organizations in disseminating Instant Recess (10-minute activity breaks integrated into the routine work or school day), and PH because of the 5 years I spent as Director of Public Health in the city of Richmond, VA and as Director of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
What's most exciting to you about the U.S. having a National Physical Activity Plan?
Putting the mirror in front of leaders in each sector, and having them take a hard look at what they can do to address inactivity and re-integrate physical activity into the lives of everyday Americans. Because this is more than a childhood obesity problem—we've got to get the entire population moving again.
What will success of the NPAP look like to you in 3 years, 5 years? 10 years?
In the short term, organizations like schools, afterschool programs, hospitals, churches and temples, governments and civic groups finding creative ways to inject a little movement into the day. For example:
- auto-free zones, with parking only for people with disabilities, around schools and workplaces and in city centers
- pre-schools and afterschool programs with enforced restrictions on screen time and lots of free play and supervised games and active recreation
- flash mobs where people invite their co-workers through their social media networks outside for a short dance break during the work day,
- high-quality PE where kids can build movement skills for lifetime activity by choosing highly competitive sports contests, dance classes or cooperative games
- work meetings scheduled a few buildings away so participants get a 5-minute walk en route
- organized sports engaging spectators in movement during pre-game shows and halftime
In the longer term, I see government investment in mass transit surpassing highways, mixed use communities with many destinations within walking or biking distance, employer tax incentives for workplace policies that make the physically active choice the default choice or path of least resistance, and expansion and better maintenance of parks and trails.