Summary
Local parks are an important community resource that may influence levels of physical activity among youth. However, few population-based studies have investigated park-based physical activity among youth. The study examines sociodemographic, family and neighborhood characteristics associated with park-based physical activity among adolescents.
Data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), a population-based survey of California households were analyzed in 2012-2013 and 2015. The study examines individual (age, gender, race/ethnicity, and nativity), family (household income, parental education and nativity), and neighborhood characteristics (urbanicity, perceived park availability, perceived park safety, neighborhood income and racial composition) associated with engaging in park-based physical activity among adolescents.
Authors found that in California, 71 percent of adolescents reported being physically active the last time they visited a park. In adjusted multinomial logistic regression analyses, older adolescents and females were less likely to be physically active in parks. Adolescents with a park within walking distance of home and those with a safe park nearby were more likely to be physically active during a park visit.
