Community Strategies

Physical Activity in the Community

• Active People, Healthy Nation^SM
  CDC is working with states and communities to improve the built environment as part of Active People, Healthy Nation – Creating an Active America, Together^SM. This initiative aims to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027 to improve their overall health and quality of life and to reduce healthcare costs.
• CDC’s Designing and Building Healthy Places
  This website offers tools and evidence-based health strategies for community planning, transportation, and land-use decisions.
• The CDC Guide to Strategies to Increase Physical Activity in the Community[PDF-1.2MB]
  This document provides guidance for program managers, policy makers, and others on how to select strategies to increase physical activity in the community.
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2^nd edition
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a new edition of the Guidelines to describe the amounts and types of physical activity needed to maintain or improve overall health and reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Zoning for Walkability

Zoning regulations can be used to foster walkable communities. The following resources relate to this strategy.

• Components of Local Land Development and Related Zoning Policies Associated with Increased Walking: A Primer for Public Health Practitioner [PDF-4.94MB]
  This document provides a primer for public health practitioners and others interested in engaging with local planning and zoning officials. Specific community examples and links to key resources are provided through the primer along with a glossary of key terms used by the planning and zoning sectors.
• Zoning Code Reforms are Associated with Walking Behaviors in a Nationwide Evaluation [PDF-293KB]
  This factsheet summarizes key findings from a recently completed nationwide evaluation of the relationship between zoning code reforms and both leisure time and active travel-related walking and activity.
• Zoning Elements are Associated with Walking Behaviors in a Nationwide Evaluation [PDF-489KB]
  This factsheet summarizes key findings from a recently completed nationwide evaluation of the relationship between zoning elements supportive of walking and both leisure time and active travel-related walking.