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Eduardo J. Simoes, MD, MPH, Pedro Hallal, PhD, Michael Pratt, MD, MPH, Luiz Ramos, MD, PhD, Marcia Munk, MS, Wilson Damascena, BA, Diana Parra Perez, CPT, Christine M. Hoehner, PhD, MSPH, David Gilbertz, MS, Deborah Carvalho Malta, MD, PhD and Ross C. Brownson, PhD

Eduardo J. Simoes is with the Division of Adult and Community Health, Prevention Research Centers Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA. Pedro Hallal is with the Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil. Michael Pratt is with the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity and the CDC World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Physical Activity and Health Promotion, CDC, Atlanta. Luiz Ramos and Marcia Munk are with the Department of Preventive Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Wilson Damascena is with the Recife Secretariat of Health, Recife, Brazil. Diana Parra Perez, Christine M. Hoehner, and Ross C. Brownson are with the Prevention Research Center, Washington University, St Louis, MO. David Gilbertz is with the Behavioral Surveillance Branch, CDC, Atlanta. Deborah Carvalho Malta is with the Secretariat of Health Surveillance, Ministry of Health of Brazil, Brasília.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Eduardo J. Simoes, MD, MSc, MPH, Prevention Research Centers Program, National Centers for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy NE, MS-K45, Atlanta, GA 30341 (e-mail: esimoes{at}cdc.gov).

Objectives. We evaluated the effects of a community-based intervention, the Academia da Cidade program (ACP), on increasing leisure-time physical activity among residents of Recife, Brazil.

Methods. We used the International Physical Activity Questionnaire to assess leisure-time physical activity and transport physical activity (i.e., activities involved in traveling from place to place) levels in a random sample of 2047 Recife residents surveyed in 2007. We also examined factors related to exposure to ACP (participation in the intervention, residing near an intervention site, hearing about or seeing intervention activities). We estimated prevalence odds ratios (ORs) of moderate to high leisure-time and transport physical activity levels via intervention exposures adjusted for sociodemographic, health, and environmental variables.

Results. Prevalence ORs for moderate to high levels of leisure-time physical activity were higher among former (prevalence OR = 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0, 3.9) and current (prevalence OR = 11.3; 95% CI = 3.5, 35.9) intervention participants and those who had heard about or seen an intervention activity (prevalence OR = 1.8; 95% CI = 1.3, 2.5). Transport physical activity levels were inversely associated with residing near an ACP site.

Conclusions. The ACP program appears to be an effective public health strategy to increase population-level physical activity in urban developing settings.