Whole of community physical activity interventions: easier said than done.

<bold>Objectives: </bold>To reflect on whole community intervention approaches to promoting physical activity, using experiences from the 10,000 Steps Rockhampton project. <bold>Design: </bold>Many studies are quasi-experimental with single site intervention and comparison communities. <bold>Setting and Participants: </bold>Whole communities. <bold>Intervention: </bold>Coordinated multiple strategies designed to address individual, interpersonal and environmental determinants of physical activity. <bold>Main Outcome Measure: </bold>Physical activity <bold>Results: </bold>There are many challenges to conducting whole community interventions. Developing community partnerships and coalitions, reaching socially disadvantaged groups, and developing effective evaluation methods are identified as specific concerns. <bold>Conclusions: </bold>Despite the challenges, the whole community approach still offers tremendous potential for developing the social and cultural change which will be required for sustained improvements in population physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]