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Published on: March 7, 2019
Perceptions of neighborhood park quality: associations with physical activity and body mass index
Hua Bai1, Sonja A Wilhelm Stanis, Andrew T Kaczynski
1Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, University of Missouri, 105 Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Background:
Parks are important resources for physical activity (PA), yet few studies have examined how perceptions of park characteristics relate to PA and health.
Purpose:
This study investigated associations between perceptions of neighborhood park quality and overall moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), park-based PA, and body mass index (BMI).
Methods:
Data were collected via questionnaire from 893 households in Kansas City, Missouri.
Results:
The newly developed neighborhood park quality scale demonstrated good test-retest and internal reliability. Residents' perceptions of neighborhood park quality were related to PA and health outcomes. Perceiving parks as a benefit was positively related to overall MVPA and park-based PA and negatively related to BMI. Perceptions of well-used parks were positively related to BMI, while perceived cleanliness was negatively related to park-based PA.
Conclusions:
Better measuring and understanding how perceptions of local parks are associated with PA and health can improve appreciation of how parks facilitate active living.
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