El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, México.
Arizona State University, Tempe, U.S.A.
Cad Saude Publica. 2021 Jan 22;37(1):e00028720. doi: 10.1590/0102-311X00028720. eCollection 2021.
Public spaces could promote health equity by providing a place for people to engage in physical activity. Whereas most studies show a positive association between public spaces and physical activity, there are still mixed results, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The objectives of this mixed-methods study were: (i) to assess the quantitative association between access to public spaces and physical activity; (ii) to assess the modification of the association by public spaces quality, area-level walkability, and social stratifiers; (iii) to explain the quantitative results using qualitative data. Quantitative data were obtained with a household survey in two arid-climate Mexican cities in 2017-2018. physical activity was measured with the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Access to public spaces was measured in buffers centered on survey blocks, walkability with area-level indicators, and public spaces quality with the Physical Activity Resources Assessment. Qualitative data were obtained with semi-structured interviews and neighborhood observation. No quantitative association between access to public spaces and physical activity was found, as well as no interactions between access to public spaces and other variables. Walkability was positively associated with physical activity. Qualitative analysis showed that local public spaces were rarely used by adults because they were perceived as small, unequipped, unattractive, and unsafe. The results shed light on the relationship between public spaces and physical activity, highlighting the improvements in design and upkeep of public spaces that are necessary to achieve their potential health benefit.
公共空间可以通过为人们提供进行身体活动的场所来促进健康公平。虽然大多数研究表明公共空间与身体活动之间存在正相关关系，但仍存在结果不一致的情况，尤其是在低收入和中等收入国家。本混合方法研究的目的是：（i）评估获得公共空间与身体活动之间的定量关联；（ii）评估公共空间质量、区域步行能力和社会分层因素对该关联的修正作用；（iii）使用定性数据解释定量结果。2017-2018 年，在墨西哥两个干旱气候城市进行了家庭调查以获取定量数据，使用全球身体活动问卷来测量身体活动。使用以调查街区为中心的缓冲区来测量公共空间的可达性，使用区域水平指标来测量步行能力，使用身体活动资源评估来测量公共空间质量。使用半结构化访谈和邻里观察来获取定性数据。研究未发现获得公共空间与身体活动之间存在定量关联，也未发现获得公共空间与其他变量之间存在交互作用。步行能力与身体活动呈正相关。定性分析表明，成年人很少使用当地公共空间，因为他们认为这些空间规模小、缺乏设备、缺乏吸引力且不安全。研究结果揭示了公共空间与身体活动之间的关系，强调了需要改善公共空间的设计和维护，以发挥其潜在的健康效益。
