Behavior Change Archives - IDEA Health & Fitness Association

Doing Good: A Positivity Multiplier

By Shirley Archer, JD, MA | September 25, 2020 |

Add volunteering to the list of lifestyle activities that can promote health and well-being, according to a recent large-scale longitudinal study.

Encourage Kids to Choose Fun Physical Activities

By Shirley Archer, JD, MA | September 8, 2020 |

The best way for parents to motivate kids to be active may be to emphasize a child’s feelings of choice, competence and social relatedness.

How to Succeed at Online Health Coaching

By Lee Jordan, MS | September 8, 2020 |

A great opportunity exists for health and wellness coaches ready to embrace the online/virtual environment through telemedicine and online coaching.

Help Clients Return to Training Safely, Smartly

By Alicia Filley, MS, PT | September 8, 2020 |

Whether it’s been a few weeks or a few months, personal trainers must update programs to fit clients’ current status, not their pre-coronavirus fitness levels.

Game On for Weight Gain

By Matthew Kadey, MS, RD | August 10, 2020 |

According to a report in JAMA Paediatrics, spending too much time in the gaming world could be bad news for body composition down the road.

Weight Bias in the Health and Fitness Industry

By Cassandra Padgett, MS | July 13, 2020 |

In an industry that strives to help people improve health and fitness, there is still a significant amount of judgment and stigma toward people with obesity.

Health Lessons From the World’s Blue Zones

By Matthew Kadey, MS, RD | July 13, 2020 |

What can research teach us that supports lessons from people who consistently live longer than average in the world’s Blue Zones?

Active Commuting Linked to Heart Health

By Shirley Archer, JD, MA | July 8, 2020 |

University of Leeds researchers in England found an association between heart health and active commuting among data for 43 million British working adults ages 25–74.

5 Healthy Habits

By Shirley Archer, JD, MA | May 1, 2020 |

Following five lifestyle habits may increase the years you live free of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer, according to a study in the BMJ (2020; doi:10.1136/bmj.16669).

Surprising Types (and Signs) of Eating Disorders in Athletes

By Concordia University, St. Paul Online | April 23, 2020 |

“The message we get from the fitness industry is that your body is the problem, and it’s your job to fix it,” says Gillian Goerzen, author of The Elephant in the Gym: Your Body-Positive Guide to Writing Your Own Health and Fitness Story (Winchelsea Media, November 2018) and owner of the Super You Studio. This pressure can be even more pronounced in athletes — and in the fitness professionals who train them. In fact, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, some of the hallmarks of a successful athlete — mental toughness, commitment to training and pursuit of excellence — can easily slide into asceticism, excessive exercise and perfectionism, which are signs of anorexia nervosa.

Helping Teens With Obesity

By IDEA Editorial Staff | March 11, 2020 |

Did you know that adolescent obesity has been linked to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, poor self-esteem, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, aggressive and destructive behavior, internet addiction, binging and purging, and other severe emotional outcomes (Reinehr 2018)? Emotional issues are often attributed to bullying and weight stigma.

Exercise trends in China and South America

Top Fitness Trend in China and South America

By Shirley Archer, JD, MA | February 25, 2020 |

The number-one ﬁtness trend identiﬁed in both China and South America is the inclusion of exercise in dietary weight-loss programs, according to ACSM’s
2020 Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends. This could be the ﬁtness industry responding to rising rates of overweight and obesity. In North America, exercise for weight loss has declined as a trend, superseded by health and wellness coaching.

Health and Wellness Coaching Approved as Healthcare Service

By Shirley Archer, JD, MA | January 27, 2020 |

Health and wellness coaching has hit an important professional milestone. The AMA has officially recognized the role of health and wellness coaches as nonphysician healthcare professionals by approving procedural codes for tracking health and well-being coaching services. This means that health and wellness coaches who are certified by either the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) or by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing Inc. are recognized as Category III healthcare professionals.

Dogs Help People Get Active

By Shirley Archer, JD, MA | January 17, 2020 |

In a review of 10 studies—published between 1950 and 2019—that included 3.8 million people, researchers found that dog owners had a 24% lower risk of dying than nonowners during follow-up periods averaging 10 years.

Training Happy for Positive Behavioral Change

By Shirley Archer, JD, MA | December 13, 2019 |

Are happiness exercises part of your training program design? Does that question seem odd? As you embark on a new year of helping clients work toward their fitness resolutions, this is the perfect time to pause and consider how you can use every tool at your disposal to make sure people succeed. Your toolbox includes harnessing the power of positivity to promote physical activity.

Behavior Change