Exercise is Medicine at Emory Seavey Internal Medicine Clinic

Weight in kilograms will be measured at baseline and throughout the study period.

The cardiovascular disease risk factor of dyslipidemia will be assessed by measuring triglycerides at baseline and throughout the study period. Triglycerides above 150 mg/dL are considered high.

The cardiovascular disease risk factor of dyslipidemia will be assessed by measuring total cholesterol at baseline and throughout the study period. Total cholesterol above 200 mg/dL is considered high.

The cardiovascular disease risk factor of hypertension will be assessed by measuring blood pressure at baseline and throughout the study period. Blood pressure will be measured as systolic and diastolic millimeters of mercury (mmHg). A blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg for a sustained period is considered hypertension.

Blood glucose levels will be measured at baseline and throughout the study. Normal fasting blood glucose levels are between 70 and 100 mg/dL.

HbA1c levels will be measured at baseline and throughout the study. The normal range for HbA1c levels is between 4% and 5.6% of total hemoglobin. Diabetes is diagnosed if HbA1c is greater than 6.5%.

Symptoms of depression will be measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The CES-D asks respondents to indicate how they have felt or behaved in the past week to 20 symptoms of depression, such as "My sleep was restless" and "I was happy". Participants will select from Rarely (<1 day), Some of the time (1-2 days), Occasionally (3-4 days) and Most of the time (5-7 days). Responses are scored from 0 to 3, with reverse scoring for positive items so that 0 corresponds with low symptoms. Total possible scores range from 0 to 60, with higher scores indicating increased symptoms of depression.

Self-efficacy to make dietary changes will be measured with the Eating Habits Confidence Survey. This survey asks participants to rate how confident they are that they could motivate themselves to make certain dietary changes for 6 months. The 20-item survey includes statements such as "Eat smaller portions at dinner" and respondents indicate how sure they can do each item on a 5 point scale where 1 = "I know I cannot" and 5 = "I know I can". Total scores range from 20 to 100, where higher scores indicate increased confidence in making dietary changes.

Self-efficacy to make changes in exercise habits will be measured with the Exercise Confidence Survey. This survey asks participants to rate how confident they are that they could motivate themselves to make certain changes to physical activity habits for 6 months. The 12-item survey includes statements such as "Get up early, even on weekends, to exercise" and respondents indicate how sure they can do each item on a 5 point scale where 1 = "I know I cannot" and 5 = "I know I can". Total scores range from 12 to 60, where higher scores indicate increased confidence in making changes to exercise habits.

The Social Support and Exercise Survey assesses how much support the respondent receives from family members and friends. Participants will rate how often each of the 13 incidents specified occurred in the last three months, rating family and friends separately. Each item is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 = none and 5 = very often. The responses will be summed to obtain an overall score of the support received from family and friends. Total scores can range from 26 to 130. Scores for particular items are scored in reverse so that higher scores indicate more support.

The Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ-18) asks respondents how much they agree with statements related to the medical care they receive. The 18-item questionnaire includes statements such as "Doctors are good about explaining the reason for medical tests" and "Doctors sometimes ignore what I tell them". Each item is rated from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (disagree). All items are scored so that high scores reflect satisfaction with medical care. Total scores can range from 18 to 90.

The 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) asks respondents to rate their health and abilities to do their usual tasks. The SF-12 uses a variety of questions and response options and includes a physical health component summary and a mental health component summary. Scores are reversed, when appropriate, so that a higher value indicates better health. The scale is transformed to have a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10; scores above 50 indicate better health than the general US population, while scores below 50 indicate poorer than average health.

The 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) asks respondents to rate their health and abilities to do their usual tasks. The SF-36 uses a variety of questions and response options and includes 8 subscales (physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health, role limitations due to emotional health, energy/fatigue, emotional well-being, social functioning, pain, and general health). Responses are coded on a scale of 0 to 100 where 0 is the worst possible health and 100 is the most favorable health score. The coded responses will be summed and averaged to obtain a mean score for the entire survey.