Foundations of Physical Activity and Public Health

The first textbook to clearly define the intersection of kinesiology and public health, Foundations of Physical Activity and Public Health, Second Edition With Web Resource, has been newly updated to reflect the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The new edition has been updated with additional contemporary research findings and international examples. With a solid introduction to the concepts of public health and kinesiology, techniques used to measure physical activity, and health effects of exercise and physical activity, the text will show readers how to advance the use of physical activity as a significant component in public health initiatives.

Joining field leaders Harold (Bill) Kohl and Tinker Murray on this second edition is Deborah Salvo, an international expert with a special interest in the relationship between the built environment and health. Other updates to this edition include the following:

• New content on the use of electronic devices—such as pedometers and consumer-based wearable technology and apps—for measuring physical activity
• Urban design strategies for promoting physical activity at the community level
• An engaging, full-color visual presentation
• A new web resource that includes key term learning activities and links to the National Physical Activity Society (NPAS) core competencies for public health physical activity practitioners that relate to each chapter

Foundations of Physical Activity and Public Health, Second Edition, describes the impact of sedentary behavior and physical activity on health, including cardiorespiratory and metabolic diseases, weight status, musculoskeletal disorders, cancers, and brain health. Evidence-based strategies are examined using three general approaches—informational, behavioral and social, and environmental and policy—with examples of successful programs to help readers understand applications in public health. A chapter on data collection and analysis teaches how to measure and evaluate program and policy effectiveness, while discussion of real-world initiatives such as the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan and the Toronto Charter for Physical Activity illustrates developing effective partnerships and models for advocacy.

To further tie theory to practice, case studies and callout boxes throughout the text provide practical examples, and each chapter ends with a review to solidify student understanding of the material. Leader Profile sidebars allow students to explore career options while learning more about individuals who have had a major impact on this growing field.

As the emphasis on physical activity as a tool for improving public health grows, professionals with combined knowledge and skills from both public health and exercise science fields will be highly sought. Foundations of Physical Activity and Public Health, Second Edition, will help students obtain an overview of kinesiology and public health areas, understand physical activity applications for public health, and learn about career options, and it will inspire them to choose a career and make a difference in the emerging field of physical activity and public health.

Harold W. (Bill) Kohl, III, PhD, was a professor of epidemiology and kinesiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the University of Texas at Austin. At the University of Texas Health Science Center, Dr. Kohl also served as the associate regional dean for academic affairs and international health affairs at the Austin regional campus.

His research concentrated on national and international physical activity surveillance and epidemiology issues, as well as program development and evaluation studies for the promotion of school-based physical activity for children and adolescents. He was a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the National Academy of Kinesiology, and served as an elected trustee of ACSM. He was the founder and past president of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health and served as the elected chair of the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan Alliance. He also served in an editorial capacity for several scientific journals and is editor emeritus of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. He published more than 200 papers, chapters, and monographs in the scientific literature. In 2018 he coauthored the textbook Foundations of Kinesiology.

Bill Kohl passed away in 2023. 

Tinker D. Murray, PhD, is a professor emeritus and honorary professor of international studies in health and human performance at Texas State University in San Marcos. He earned his PhD in physical education from Texas A&M University in 1984. His research interests include school-based and clinical-based youth physical activity and interventions with public health linkages for the prevention of obesity and diabetes, continuing education opportunities for coaching education, and personal fitness and training applications related to exercise physiology.

From 1982 to 1984, Murray served as director of cardiac rehabilitation at Brooke Army Medical Center, where he was twice recognized for his exceptional performance. He began his career at Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State), where he served as the director of employee wellness from 1984 to 1988 and director of the exercise performance laboratory from 1984 to 2000. He was a volunteer assistant cross country and track coach at Southwest Texas State from 1985 to 1988 and helped win three Gulf Star Conference titles.

From 1985 to 1988, he was a subcommittee member for the Governor's Commission on Physical Fitness that developed the Fit Youth Today program. He served as lecturer and examiner for the USA Track and Field Level 2 coaching certification program from 1988 to 2008 and as the vice chair of the Governor's Commission on Physical Fitness in Texas from 1993 to 1994. He worked with the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) from 2003 to 2013 as a facilitator with the Professional Development Cooperative, which promoted continuing education opportunities.

Murray is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and is certified as an ACSM program director. He was a two-time president of the Texas regional chapter of ACSM (1987 and 1994). He served on the national ACSM board of trustees from 1998 to 2001. In the fall of 2003, he was a guest researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity. He has been actively involved with the International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH) and has attended several biannual meetings of the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health.

Murray retired from Texas State University in 2018 and was named a professor emeritus and honorary professor of international studies. He continues to remain physically active by cycling daily, jogging often, and lifting weights twice a week. He remains academically active by contributing to scholarly presentations and publications that promote physical active lifestyles.

Deborah Salvo, PhD, is an assistant professor of public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is a faculty scholar of the Prevention Research Center, the Center for Diabetes Translation Research, and the Institute for Public Health. Before this appointment, she held positions at the University of Texas School Health Science Center in Austin, Stanford University’s Prevention Research Center, and the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico.

Salvo is a native of Mexico City, Mexico, and earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food sciences from Universidad Iberoamericana. She earned her doctorate in biological and biomedical sciences (nutrition and health sciences, public health and epidemiology track) from Emory University in 2013. Her interests lie in understanding the role of built environment on physical activity and health, and in using this evidence to resolve global health disparities. Her work ranges from local projects to multisite international consortia. She has expertise in using, improving, and developing novel methodological approaches that combine physical activity and spatial epidemiological tools to address complex questions on the effects of context on health. Throughout her career, she has facilitated and led international collaborations to support the growth of the field of physical activity and public health on a global scale, with special emphasis on low- and middle-income countries and populations.

Salvo is the current chair of the Council on Environment and Physical Activity within the International Society for Physical Activity and Health. She is also part of the steering committee of the Global Observatory for Physical Activity, and she is an active member of the Our Voice Global Network. Salvo serves as associate editor for Preventing Chronic Disease, an official scientific journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Throughout her career, she has served as technical advisor on physical activity and the built environment for several agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Fogarty International Center within the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, and the World Health Organization. Salvo was a contributing author to the second series on physical activity published by The Lancet in 2016, which convened global experts to present the latest evidence of the important role of physical activity for public health.