Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105318

Deborah A. Cohen, MD, MPH¹, Thomas McKenzie², Amber Sehgal³, Stephanie Williamson³, and Daniela Golinelli, PhD³. (1) Health, RAND Corporation, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405, 310 393-0411 ext 6023, dcohen@rand.org, (2) Center for Behavioral and Community Health Studies, San Diego State University, 9245 Sky Park Court, San Diego, CA 92123, (3) Health, RAND, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405

Background: The contribution of public parks to health and physical activity has not been fully explored. Methods: Within a collaborative CBPR (Community-Based Participatory Research) model, “promotoras” used The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) to observe users in 8 Los Angeles parks 4x per day (7:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30 pm, 6:30 pm) during 7 consecutive days (weather permitting). They also surveyed a random sample of 1270 park users and community residents. Results: In each of the eight parks, we observed an average of 2,006 persons during the 7 days (range 638-4,849). Of the 16,048 park users observed, 66% were sedentary (range 49%-77%), 19% walking (range 12%-30%), and 16% in vigorous activity (range 11%-23%). Males were nearly twice as likely to be engaged in vigorous activity as females (19% vs. 10%) and were seen in parks in greater numbers than females (62% vs. 38%). Fewer than 5% of observed park users appeared to be over the age of 60. Users of parks lived nearby--43% lived within ¼ mile and another 21% between ¼ and ½ mile of the park. Both residents and park users named the park as their most common place for exercise, and only 6% of users and 3% of residents used a health club for exercise. Discussion: Parks do serve a large portion of the local population, and their use increases with proximity to the park. Parks do not appear to serve the elderly well, and are less used by females than males.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn how communtiy partners learned to assess park use with SOPARC, systematic observation of Parks and recreation in Communities
• Participants will learn about the evidence supporting the association between physical activity and proximity to recreational facilities.

Keywords: Community, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation