title: Places to play: association of park space and facilities with healthy weight status among children.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how healthy weight status among youth was related to (i) three proximity-based park variables: number of parks within 1 km of home, total area of parkland within 1 km, and distance to the closest park from home, and (ii) the availability of 13 specific park facilities within 1 km of the home. Data were collected from parents of children living in four neighborhoods of a medium-sized Canadian city. Logistic regression analyses revealed that none of the three proximity-based park variables was significantly associated with healthy weight status among children in the sample. However, when availability of the 13 park facilities was examined, children with a park playground within 1 km were almost five times more likely to be classified as being of a healthy weight rather then at risk or overweight compared to those children without playgrounds in nearby parks. Results suggest that availability of certain park facilities may play a more important role in promoting physical activity and healthy weight status among children than availability of park space in general. Implications for park design are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1. lrpotwar@ahsmail.uwaterloo.ca
authors.forename: Luke R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Potwarka
authors.forename: Andrew T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Kaczynski
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Flack
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011633:Public Facilities; D014505:Urban Population