Exercise is Medicine on Campus: A Scoping Review of Evidence 2009 to 2021 and Call to Action.

ABSTRACT: The Exercise is Medicine On Campus (EIM-OC) program began in 2009 at Chatham University by Dr. Robert Sallis, Dr. Carena Winters, and ACSM leadership. The vision of EIM-OC is "to see all campus and community members across multiple disciplines discover, share, and adopt the principles of EIM that will help change the culture of physical activity and chronic disease prevention and management campus wide." Although EIM-OC maintains close track of programmatic details, such as the number of registered and recognized institutions, a comprehensive review of EIM-OC publications has not been previously reported. The purpose of this scoping review was to 1) identify and examine all peer-reviewed evidence of EIM-OC, including scholarly articles and published abstracts of presentations; 2) analyze the key themes of EIM-OC implementation and outcomes; and 3) identify gaps in the literature. The scoping review covered all peer-reviewed publications, including scholarly articles and published abstracts, from 2009 to December 2021. In total, 9 scholarly articles and 46 published abstracts were included in this review. The articles and abstracts covered a wide range of topics, including gold level (physical activity assessment and exercise referral), silver level (physical activity education), and bronze level (physical activity awareness and promotion) activities, as well as evaluation of EIM-OC programming. Now that EIM-OC programming is firmly established, we now call on campuses and leaders to strengthen their reporting of EIM-OC outcomes at all levels: gold, silver, and bronze. Publishing research evidence will strengthen EIM-OC programming and initiatives. Specifically, we encourage publishing scholarly articles and using broad means for increasing dissemination.

Exercise Is Medicine.

There is overwhelming evidence in the scientific and medical literature that physical inactivity is a major public health problem with a wide array of harmful effects. Over 50% of health status can be attributed to unhealthy behaviors with smoking, diet, and physical inactivity as the main contributors. Exercise has been used in both the treatment and prevention of a variety of chronic conditions such as heart disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, and obesity. While the negative effects of physical inactivity are widely known, there is a gap between what physicians tell their patients and exercise compliance. Exercise is Medicine was established in 2007 by the American College of Sports Medicine to inform and educate physicians and other health care providers about exercise as well as bridge the widening gap between health care and health fitness. Physicians have many competing demands at the point of care, which often translates into limited time spent counseling patients. The consistent message from all health care providers to their patients should be to start or to continue a regular exercise program. Exercise is Medicine is a solution that enables physicians to support their patients in implementing exercise as part of their disease prevention and treatment strategies.

A musculoskeletal profile of elite female soccer players.

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study is to identify lower-extremity (LE) musculoskeletal characteristics of elite female soccer players and to determine whether differences between dominant and nondominant extremities exist with respect to strength, flexibility, and range of motion. Physical data were collected from 26 female professional soccer players. Core control, hip and knee passive range of motion (PROM), LE flexibility, hip abductor strength, and dynamic functional alignment were assessed for each LE. Of 26 subjects, 21 scored 2/5 or less on core control. Mean hip internal rotation and external rotation were 33 degrees (+/-8 degrees) and 25 degrees (+/-6.7 degrees), respectively. All subjects had shortened two-joint hip flexors with an average knee flexion angle of 50 degrees (+/-11 degrees) and increased femoral anteversion. Forty one of 48 dominant limbs and 42 of 48 nondominant limbs demonstrated deviations from neutral alignment during step down or single-leg squat. Of 25 subjects, 15 demonstrated a stiff-knee landing and/or takeoff. All subjects demonstrated limitations in hip external rotation PROM and hip flexor length. There was no difference between dominant and nondominant LEs in all variables including hip abductor strength. Additional research is needed to determine if there is a correlation between the musculoskeletal characteristics, LE biomechanics, and potential risk for injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.