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Introduction: The development of knowledge and understanding in relation to movement and health is a basic requirement to facilitate lifelong engagement in physical activity with its accompanying possible health benefits. To train teachers in applying adequate strategies, implementation studies have often shown little acceptance of traditional top-down approaches. Thus, the purpose of the Health.edu project was to develop, implement and evaluate effective and feasible measures addressing students' health-related knowledge and understanding (HKU) in physical education (PE) via a participatory approach. Materials and Methods: For evaluation, a controlled pre-post-test study with 233 students from eight different secondary schools in Germany was carried out. Four schools (with two PE teachers at each school) comprised the intervention group and they participated in a 1-year participatory planning process to conceptualize and implement evidence-based PE lessons addressing students' HKU. Control schools carried out their regular PE lessons. Evaluation followed a mixed-methods research design, assessing program implementation via written documentary technique as well as program effectiveness using a standardized questionnaire. Results: Results show a significant intervention effect on students' HKU with a medium effect size. However, due to the participatory process, there were considerable differences between the intervention schools that were involved. Student's HKU improved most in schools where program implementation corresponded to relevant principles of fostering HKU. Discussion: The present study purposefully dispensed with any structured intervention programs for PE teachers to follow. The results show the potential effects of this participatory approach to strengthen student's HKU. However, the participatory planning does not always work in the intended manner, emphasizing that numerous contextual factors influence the implementation process.

Community capacity building is an essential approach for health promotion, combining a participatory approach with the view to community ownership. Little research focuses on practical capacity building strategies and monitoring. Our paper looks into involving stakeholders in facilitated group discussions as a specific strategy for fostering capacity building processes. These processes focused on physical activity (PA) promotion in two German communities (ACTION4men). Along the dimensions of capacity building suggested in literature (e.g., problem solving, resource mobilization, leadership), we implemented two participatory stakeholder groups (1/community). These groups were motivated to develop and implement PA interventions for men >50 years. For measuring capacity building processes, a semi-standardized monitoring instrument was used to document all group meetings. Additionally, we conducted semi-standardized interviews with group participants and drop-outs to capture their perspectives on capacity building. All documents were analyzed using thematic analysis. We successfully established stakeholder groups that planned and implemented a range of local measures meant to increase PA among older men. In one community, the process was sustainable, whereby the group continued to meet regularly over years. Capacity building was successful to a certain degree (e.g., regarding participation, problem assessment, and resource mobilization), but stalled after first meetings. Capacity building processes differed between the two communities in terms of leadership and sustainability. The developed interventions mainly addressed the access to organized sport courses, rather than tackling walkability or active transport. The theoretical capacity building approach was successful to develop and implement programs aimed at promoting PA. The actual capacity building processes depend upon the composition of stakeholder groups and inherent power relations.

Promoting Health Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) behavior is an important undertaking in Germany as well as in China. In order to create successful interventions in different nations, knowledge about the relevant psychosocial correlates that may encourage successful progression through the behavior change process is necessary. Therefore, the relationships of selected psychosocial correlates of physical activity with stages of change were examined in a German-Chinese sample. In total, 2071 adults (865 Germans, 1206 Chinese) completed a questionnaire. The theoretical framework used was the FIT-model, which consists of the following stages of change: not considering, considering, preparing, exploring, fluctuating and maintaining. All data were analyzed with a two-way ANOVA. Significant main effects for the stages of change on all psychosocial correlates were found. Significant interactions between stages and nations emerged for all correlates except for social support, although these results revealed small effect sizes. To progress within the stages of inactivity, interventions should focus on outcome expectations, barriers, social support and affective attitudes. The successful initiation of physical activity depends on considerations of barriers, maintenance self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation and affective attitudes. These same correlates plus social support are relevant for long-term adherence to physical activity. In Germany, perceived barriers and emotional aspects of physical activity appear to be important for initiating and maintaining regular physical activity. Furthermore, for long-term adherence to physical activity, Germans-in contrast to Chinese adults-may not necessarily benefit from social support; however they could benefit from learning how to strengthen their physical activity outcome expectations.

Introduction: Capacity building for health promotion is a relevant precondition for sustainable, health-related changes in community settings. So far, there are few evidence-based recommendations about how to implement and evaluate community capacity building approaches. ACTION for men (A4M) is a project designed to build and evaluate capacities for health promotion in three rural communities in Bavaria, Germany, via a participatory approach including multiple community stakeholders. The project specifically aims at improving physical activity (PA) in men over 50 years of age (50 plus). Methods and Analysis: As a strategy to build the communities' capacities, we set up stakeholder groups in so far two communities. Those stakeholder groups will be facilitated over a period of 1-3 years. In regular meetings, the group members will be motivated to actively participate in planning and implementing PA programs for men 50 plus. The facilitation will systematically address key domains of community capacity (e.g., critical awareness, problem assessment, resource mobilization). The evaluation of the capacity building processes will be carried out using a mixed-methods design. Evaluation instruments consist of structured documentations and face-to-face interviews with stakeholder group participants (and drop-outs) as well as a pre-post-test using a standardized questionnaire in order to detect activity-related changes in men 50 plus from the involved communities. In community three, we will conduct the same procedure with a delay of 6 months. Discussion: Building community capacity for health promotion programs is the primary aim in A4M, and thus differs from previous research in which capacity is mostly a means to an end or an "incidental" result of a health promotion program. Therefore, A4M is expected to deliver important findings about how to implement and evaluate capacity building processes for health promotion, as well as how to address physical activity in community settings.