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Integrating social capital into a park-use and active-living framework
Stephanie T Broyles1, Andrew J Mowen, Katherine P Theall
1Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808, USA. stephanie.broyles@pbrc.edu
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
|April 19, 2011
Summary
Higher social capital in parks is linked to increased park usage and physical activity. Improving park social environments may boost physical activity levels for visitors.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Urban Planning
- Environmental Psychology
Background:
- Parks are recognized as potential promoters of physical activity within the built environment.
- Research on the impact of the park's social environment on physical activity is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if social capital is a collective characteristic of park environments.
- To investigate the association between social capital and park utilization and physical activity.
Main Methods:
- Surveyed 222 adult park users across 27 New Orleans neighborhood parks.
- Utilized direct observation to count park users and their activity levels during weekday afternoons.
- Employed multilevel linear regression to assess social capital variation among parks and its impact on park use and physical activity.
Main Results:
- Social capital varied significantly among parks, with 27% of the variation attributable to park differences (ICC=0.27).
- Parks with higher social capital exhibited significantly more daily users (42.5 vs. 12.1) and greater energy expenditure (3200.3 vs. 721.2 MET-minutes).
Conclusions:
- The study highlights the importance of the park's social environment in influencing physical activity.
- Further research and interventions focused on enhancing park social environments are recommended to promote physical activity.
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