title: Park improvements and park activity: a natural experiment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Parks are an important setting for leisure-time physical activity. Understanding how to attract residents to parks and encourage park users to be physically active is an important public health initiative. Natural experiments are a research priority for investigating whether changes to the physical environment affect physical activity; however, natural experiments involving parks have rarely been conducted.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This natural experiment examined whether improvements to a park in Victoria, Australia, increased its use and park-based physical activity of users.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational data were collected on park use and park-based activity among park users at the intervention park and a control park at three time points; baseline (T1, August 2009); post-improvement (T2, March 2010); and 12 months after baseline (T3, August 2010). At each time point, observations were undertaken during three 1.5-hour periods each day on 9 days. Analyses were conducted in 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the intervention park, there were significant increases from pre- to post-improvement in the number of park users (T1=235, T3=985) and the number of people observed walking (T1=155, T3=369) and being vigorously active (T1=38, T3=257). At the control park, counts of usage decreased over the same period and no differences in walking or vigorous activity were observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improving the features of a local neighborhood park may lead to increased usage and physical activity.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia. jenny.veitch@deakin.edu.au
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Veitch
authors.forename: Kylie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.forename: Gavin R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salmon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004779:Environment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation; D011633:Public Facilities; D011998:Recreation; D014739:Victoria