Equitable Physical Activity
Every child and adult should have the opportunity to be physically active in everyday life. However, our policies and community designs put regular physical activity out of reach for many Americans—especially people with lower incomes, people with disabilities, people of color, and people who live in rural areas. Building support for policies and programs that expand access to physical activity starts with framing the conversation in a way that exposes the inequities and makes the case for structural solutions.
 The FrameWorks Institute and Physical Activity Alliance (an OA Action Alliance member organization) recently published a toolkit entitled Framing Guidance: Equitable Physical Activity to offer framing guidance on how to center equity in conversations about physical activity. This toolkit includes:
- A brief summary of the disparities that exist in physical activity access and outcomes;
- Framing recommendations in the form of “dos and don’ts;
- Narrative templates that build toward various solutions to inequities in physical activity.
The cultural barriers to change are deep, and while public thinking about physical activity won’t change overnight, a shared framing strategy coupled with a coordinated advocacy effort will help ensure that everyone has the opportunity to get active.
Access the toolkit here: bit.ly/3pSrOJ8
Public health is a powerful tool to level that playing field, to bend the arc of our country away from distrust and disparities and back towards equity and justice.
–Leana S. Wen
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