Active Living Research and the movement for healthy communities.

s F v o C R i e l n ( d s r t o ensure that all people have full opportunity for physical activity, research and advocacy must occur across a broad range of fields and engage ommunities as key partners. The active living field has ade important strides toward this end by broadening he perspective of scientists, advocates, and healthcare ractitioners and challenging them to consider how eighborhood factors influence physical activity, obeity, and overall health. New partners have been enaged, new policies have been introduced, and gains ave been made; yet there remains a need to get ommunities more involved. As a leader in this emerging field, Active Living esearch (ALR), a national program of the Robert ood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), has made substanial contributions toward the goal of preventing childood obesity in the communities most vulnerable to he growing epidemic: lower-income communities and ommunities of color. ALR serves as an important ehicle for building the evidence base, contributing to dvocacy efforts, and creating alliances across fields, nd their support for place-based research has helped et the groundwork for advancing equitable, sustainble solutions to the obesity crisis in America. Equity must be at the center of efforts to combat this pidemic, given the disproportionate impact of obesity n people of color and the limited opportunities for hysical activity in low-income neighborhoods. Equity reates a path from hope to change by promoting fair nd just inclusion in opportunity. And what opportuity is more fundamental to the well-being of children, amilies, and communities than the opportunity to live ealthy, active lives? People of color and lower-income individuals have he highest rates of obesity and the fewest opportuities to meet recommendations for physical activity. hile healthy habits such as exercise are ultimately a atter of personal choice, local environments affect hose choices profoundly. It is difficult, if not imposible, to follow guidelines for physical activity when one ives in a neighborhood that does not facilitate an active ifestyle. Many residents of lower-income communities f color, in particular, do not have access to parks,