Children's Physical Activity in Playgrounds in Low-Income Communities

Claudia Alberico (NC State University)

Background: There are differences in the use of urban parks across racial/ethnic populations and with the increase of minority populations in the US, especially in low-income neighborhoods, it is important to design parks to meet diverse needs. Though evidence shows that availability of facilities plays a significant role in park use, how facilities influence park use among children has not been fully understood. This study focused on playgrounds and examined whether its use by children and physical activity are influenced by adjacent facilities.

Methods: Twenty parks were selected in four NYC boroughs (Staten Island not included), all containing at least one playground and one sports court. Direct observations (SOPARC) were conducted to assess gender, age group, race/ethnicity and physical activity, calculated in Metabolic Equivalents of Task (METs), during Spring (3-4pm, 4:30-5:30pm, 6-7pm) and Summer (10-11am, 6-7pm) 2017. Parks were visited for four days (two weekdays and weekend days) per season. Facilities were assessed using a Trimble GPS (playgrounds, courts, swings). All playgrounds were classified according to the adjacent facilities: none; another playground; water feature; another area (courts, swings). Models included METs as the dependent variable, playground as predictor, and a series of controls.

Results: METs per child were not significantly different when the model included day of week, period of day, season, and temperature. When stratifying by gender, girls were significantly less active in playgrounds adjacent to other playgrounds when compared to playgrounds with no other structures adjacent to them. For boys, there was significantly less total METs in playgrounds adjacent to water features. Further analyses will include models with separate children's age groups (younger versus older).

Conclusions: Placement of the playground within low-income parks does not appear to impact children's physical activity. Future analysis should include park size and neighborhood factors in addition to proximity of adjacent play structures. 24