The path forward: Highlighting social justice pearls in public health campaigns and initiatives to deliver equitable healthy living medicine.

The prevalence of unhealthy living behaviors is largely driven by environments that support them and has become a key concern at global, national, and individual (patient) levels. Healthy Living Medicine offers a compelling path forward to move people towards healthy living behaviors and better health outcomes when complemented by socially just and equitable public campaigns and initiatives. Some of the concepts that are critical for these campaigns and initiatives that will be discussed in this manuscript include the social determinants of health, the communication loop, health literacy, and implicit bias and discrimination. Considering what is practical and achievable, examples of actionable, socially-just strategies will be described to inform and encourage health professionals and other stakeholders to prioritize healthy living and reverse the poor health trajectory among our most vulnerable populations.

Moving more and sitting less in schools: What's the next step?

Schools serve as the ideal location for implementing interventions to increase physical activity (PA) as children spend most of their day in the school setting. As adolescents become more and more sedentary and obesity statistics become more dire, efforts to increase physical literacy and PA should be heightened. Physical literacy is the ability for a child to understand the movement of their body and how it can be manipulated to increase activity for recreation or sports movement. When physical literacy is paired with school-based multi-component programs, children are more likely to make a behavior change. As educators know, children are more likely to make a behavior change when mastery of content is achieved, and the lesson is tailored to their needs. Even small changes, like moving a little more or adding an additional serving of vegetables to the diet, can make a profound impact. In the current review we discuss: 1) the state of PA within school systems; 2) provide a rationale for why school systems fail to meet said guidelines; and 3) suggest how guidelines can eventually be achieved through the promotion of physical literacy and effective school-based multi component programs.