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Updated: Jul 31, 2025

Four Temporary Waterslide Designs Adapted to Different Slope Conditions to Encourage Child Socialization in Playgrounds
Published on: December 9, 2022
Playground Location and Patterns of Use
Deborah R Young1, Thomas L McKenzie2, Sarah Eng3
1Kaiser Permanente Southern California Research and Evaluation, 100 S Los Robles, 6th Floor, Pasadena, CA, 91101, USA. deborah.r.young@kp.org.
None:
Playgrounds have features that benefit visitors, including opportunities to engage in outdoor physical activity. We surveyed 1350 adults visiting 60 playgrounds across the USA in Summer 2021 to determine if distance to the playground from their residence was associated with weekly visit frequency, length of stay, and transportation mode to the site. About 2/3 of respondents living within ½ mile from the playground reported visiting it at least once per week compared with 14.1% of respondents living more than a mile away. Of respondents living within ¼ mile of playgrounds, 75.6% reported walking or biking there. After controlling for socio-demographics, respondents living within ½ mile of the playground had 5.1 times the odds (95% CI: 3.68, 7.04) of visiting the playground at least once per week compared with those living further away. Respondents walking or biking to the playground had 6.1 times the odds (95% CI: 4.23, 8.82) of visiting the playground at least once per week compared with respondents arriving via motorized transport. For public health purposes, city planners and designers should consider locating playgrounds ½ mile from all residences. Distance is likely the most important factor associated with playground use.
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