Edwards Nicole, Hooper Paula, Knuiman Matthew, Foster Sarah, Giles-Corti Billie
Centre for the Built Environment and Health, School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health and School of Earth and Environment, University of Western Australia, 55 Broadway, Nedlands, 6009, WA, Australia.
School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, 55 Broadway, Nedlands, 6009, Perth, Western Australia.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015 Feb 18;12:21. doi: 10.1186/s12966-015-0178-4.
Eighty per cent of adolescents globally do insufficient physical activity. Parks are a popular place for adolescents to be active. However, little is known about which park features are associated with higher levels of park use by adolescents.
This study aimed to examine which environmental park features, and combination of features, were correlated with higher levels of park use for physical activity among adolescents. By examining park features in parks used by adolescents for physical activity, this study also aimed to create a park 'attractiveness' score predictive of adolescent park use, and to identify factors that might predict use of their closest park.
Adolescents (n = 1304) living in Geraldton, a large rural centre of Western Australia, completed a survey that measured physical activity behaviour, perceptions of park availability and the main park used for physical activity. All parks in the study area (n = 58) were digitized using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and features audited using the Public Open Space Desktop Auditing Tool (POSDAT).
Only 27% of participants reported using their closest park for physical activity. Park use was associated with seven features: presence of a skate park, walking paths, barbeques, picnic table, public access toilets, lighting around courts and equipment and number of trees >25. When combined to create an overall attractiveness score, every additional 'attractive' feature present, resulted in a park being nearly three times more likely to be in the high use category.
To increase park use for physical activity, urban planners and designers should incorporate park features attractive to adolescents.
全球80%的青少年身体活动不足。公园是青少年进行身体活动的热门场所。然而，对于哪些公园特征与青少年更高水平的公园使用相关，人们知之甚少。
本研究旨在探讨哪些公园环境特征以及特征组合与青少年更高水平的公园身体活动使用相关。通过研究青少年用于身体活动的公园特征，本研究还旨在创建一个预测青少年公园使用情况的公园“吸引力”得分，并确定可能预测其使用最近公园的因素。
居住在西澳大利亚州一个大型农村中心杰拉尔顿的青少年（n = 1304）完成了一项调查，该调查测量了身体活动行为、对公园可用性的看法以及用于身体活动的主要公园。研究区域内的所有公园（n = 58）都使用地理信息系统（GIS）进行了数字化处理，并使用公共开放空间桌面审计工具（POSDAT）对特征进行了审计。
只有27%的参与者报告使用最近的公园进行身体活动。公园使用与七个特征相关：有滑板公园、步行道、烧烤设施、野餐桌、公共厕所、球场周围照明及设备以及树木数量>25棵。当这些特征组合起来创建一个总体吸引力得分时，每增加一个“吸引人的”特征，公园处于高使用类别的可能性就会增加近两倍。
为了增加公园用于身体活动的使用率，城市规划者和设计师应纳入对青少年有吸引力的公园特征。
