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Associations between park features and adolescent park use for physical activity
Nicole Edwards1,2, Paula Hooper3, Matthew Knuiman4
1Centre for the Built Environment and Health, School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health and School of Earth and Environment, University of Western Australia, 55 Broadway, Nedlands, 6009, WA, Australia. nicole.edwards@uwa.edu.au.
Adolescents need more physical activity. Parks with specific features like skate parks and walking paths increase adolescent park use for exercise. Adding attractive features makes parks nearly three times more likely to be highly used.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Urban Planning
- Adolescent Health
Background:
- Globally, 80% of adolescents engage in insufficient physical activity.
- Parks are popular venues for adolescent physical activity, yet specific features driving usage remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify environmental park features correlated with higher adolescent park use for physical activity.
- To develop a park attractiveness score predicting adolescent park usage.
- To determine factors influencing the use of proximity parks by adolescents.
Main Methods:
- A survey of 1304 adolescents in Geraldton, Western Australia, assessed physical activity and park use.
- A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to digitize 58 local parks.
- Park features were audited using the Public Open Space Desktop Auditing Tool (POSDAT).
Main Results:
- Only 27% of adolescents used their closest park for physical activity.
- Park use correlated with skate parks, walking paths, BBQs, picnic tables, toilets, lighting, and numerous trees (>25).
- Each additional attractive feature nearly tripled a park's likelihood of being in the high-use category.
Conclusions:
- Urban planners and designers should integrate adolescent-appealing features into park designs.
- Incorporating features like skate parks and enhanced amenities can boost adolescent physical activity in parks.
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