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The Association Between Park Facilities and Duration of Physical Activity During Active Park Visits

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Abstract

Public parks provide places for urban residents to obtain physical activity (PA), which is associated with numerous health benefits. Adding facilities to existing parks could be a cost-effective approach to increase the duration of PA that occurs during park visits. Using objectively measured PA and comprehensively measured park visit data among an urban community-dwelling sample of adults, we tested the association between the variety of park facilities that directly support PA and the duration of PA during park visits where any PA occurred. Cross-classified multilevel models were used to account for the clustering of park visits (n = 1553) within individuals (n = 372) and parks (n = 233). Each additional different PA facility at a park was independently associated with a 6.8% longer duration of PA bouts that included light-intensity activity, and an 8.7% longer duration of moderate to vigorous PA time. Findings from this study are consistent with the hypothesis that more PA facilities increase the amount of PA that visitors obtain while already active at a park.

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Acknowledgments

Research reported in this article was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (award R01HL091881).

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Author notes

  1. Orion T. Stewart

    Present address: Institute for Population Health Improvement, University of California, Davis, 1631 Alhambra Blvd, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA, 95816, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urban Form Lab, University of Washington, 1107 NE 45th Street Suite 535, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Orion T. Stewart & Anne Vernez Moudon

  2. College of Built Environments Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Box 355740, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Anne Vernez Moudon

  3. School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Box 357236, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Alyson J. Littman

  4. School of Public Health Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Edmund Seto

  5. Seattle Children’s Research Institute, P.O. Box 5371, M/S: CW8-6, Seattle, WA, 98145, USA

    Brian E. Saelens

  6. School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Box 356320, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Brian E. Saelens

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  1. Orion T. Stewart
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  2. Anne Vernez Moudon
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Correspondence to Orion T. Stewart.

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Stewart, O.T., Moudon, A.V., Littman, A.J. et al. The Association Between Park Facilities and Duration of Physical Activity During Active Park Visits. J Urban Health 95, 869–880 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-0311-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-0311-1

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