JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCES, v.36, no.22, pp.2544 - 2550
Abstract
This longitudinal study described park usage and assessed the contribution of parks to moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among adolescent girls. High school girls from California (n=131) and Minnesota (n=134) wore a global positioning system (GPS) monitor and accelerometer for 6 consecutive days at two time points, one year apart. Park visits were classified by linking the GPS, accelerometer, and park and built environment data around home and school locations into a geographic information system. At baseline, 20% of girls visited a park at least once (mean 0.1 times/day), which was similar one year later (19%, mean 0.1 times/day). Girls lived a mean Euclidean distance of 0.2miles to the nearest park at both times. Among all park visits, the mean Euclidean distance of the park visited was 4.1 (baseline) and 3.9miles (follow-up). The average duration of park visits was higher at baseline (63.9minutes) compared to follow-up (38.4minutes). On days when a park was visited, MVPA was higher than on days when a park was not visited. On average, 1.9% (baseline) and 2.8% (follow-up) of MVPA occurred in parks. In this study, parks were an under-used resource for adolescent girls, particularly for MVPA.