Active Living Research

Active Living Research
Name	Active Living Research
Formation	2000
Type	Nonprofit research initiative
Headquarters	San Diego, California
Parent organization	Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Active Living Research

Active Living Research is a research initiative that funds and disseminates studies on physical activity, urban design, public health, and policy. The initiative connects scholars, practitioners, and policymakers across institutions such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, University of California, San Diego, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Planning Association, and World Health Organization to translate evidence into practice. The program has informed municipal, state, and national interventions involving agencies like the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Transportation, National Association of County and City Health Officials, and foundations including the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Overview

Active Living Research supports interdisciplinary work linking built environment, transportation systems, parks, schools, and community programs with health outcomes studied by teams at institutions such as Harvard University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and University of Michigan. The initiative emphasizes translational scholarship that influences policy actors at venues like the U.S. Congress, California State Legislature, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, New York City Council, and international bodies such as the Pan American Health Organization. Grantees have included investigators affiliated with centers like the RAND Corporation, Brookings Institution, Urban Institute, Institute of Medicine (US), and the National Academy of Medicine.

History and Funding

Founded in 2000 with seed support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the program expanded through partnerships with entities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, California Department of Public Health, Kaiser Permanente, and philanthropic organizations like the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Over time it has funded projects at universities including Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Washington, and collaborated with municipal agencies such as the San Diego Association of Governments, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Chicago Department of Public Health, and Seattle Department of Transportation. Leadership and advisory roles have involved scholars and practitioners from institutions like the American Heart Association, National Recreation and Park Association, Transportation Research Board, Institute of Transportation Engineers, and Urban Land Institute.

Research Focus and Methods

Research supported spans topics including active transportation, neighborhood walkability, school physical activity policies, park access, and community design, with investigators from University of California, Los Angeles, Boston University, Emory University, Texas A&M University, and University of Colorado Denver. Methods promoted include natural experiment evaluation, quasi-experimental designs, longitudinal cohort studies, geographic information systems used by teams at University of Minnesota, Penn State University, Ohio State University, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses by affiliates at Cochrane Collaboration, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and University College London. Mixed-methods strategies have drawn on qualitative work from researchers at Duke University, Vanderbilt University, Rutgers University, and community-based participatory research practiced with partners like YMCA of the USA and Safe Routes to School National Partnership.

Key Findings and Impact

Key findings include associations between built environment features and physical activity reported by investigators at Princeton University, Cornell University, University of Toronto, McGill University, and University of British Columbia. Research has linked street connectivity, land use mix, and transit access to activity levels in studies involving the Transportation Research Board, Federal Highway Administration, Metropolitan Planning Organization, and city agencies in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. Evidence has informed policy instruments such as Complete Streets policies adopted in jurisdictions like Portland, Oregon, bicycle master plans in Minneapolis, school wellness policies in districts such as Los Angeles Unified School District, and park funding measures in counties like San Diego County. Findings have been cited in reports by the World Health Organization, United Nations, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Institute of Medicine (US).

Programs and Collaborations

Programmatic efforts have included thematic grant competitions, training workshops, knowledge translation initiatives, and partnerships with networks such as the Active Transportation Alliance, National Physical Activity Plan Alliance, American Public Health Association, American College of Sports Medicine, and local coalitions in cities like Seattle, Denver, Austin, and Boston. Collaborations extended to transportation agencies including the Federal Transit Administration, California Department of Transportation, Metro (Los Angeles County), and research centers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Criticisms and Limitations

Critiques have highlighted potential limitations related to funding cycles from benefactors like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and partnerships with agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and have raised questions about generalizability of urban-centric studies from cities like New York City and San Francisco to rural regions such as Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta. Methodological debates—voiced by researchers at University of Chicago, Purdue University, Brown University, and Indiana University Bloomington—focus on causal inference in built environment research and on equity considerations noted by advocates from PolicyLink, Human Rights Watch, and NAACP.

Category:Public health organizations