School Parks as a Community Health Resource: Use of Joint-Use Parks by Children before and during COVID-19 Pandemic

Kevin Lanza, Casey P. Durand, Melody Alcazar, Sierra Ehlers, Kai Zhang and Harold W. Kohl
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Kevin Lanza: Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, School of Public Health in Austin, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Austin, TX 77030, USA
Casey P. Durand: Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, Department of Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health in Houston, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Melody Alcazar: Parks and Recreation Department, Austin, Austin, TX 78704, USA
Sierra Ehlers: Parks and Recreation Department, Austin, Austin, TX 78704, USA
Kai Zhang: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY 12144, USA
Harold W. Kohl: Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, School of Public Health in Austin, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Austin, TX 77030, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-14

Abstract: Parks are settings for physical activity that can support the physical and mental health of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. We determined the impact of the pandemic on the use of joint-use parks outside of school hours by children in Austin, TX, United States. In autumn of 2019 and autumn of 2020 (i.e., before and during the COVID-19 pandemic), we used an adapted version of the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities to observe whether children aged 1–12 participated in physical activity (i.e., sedentary, light and moderate, vigorous) at three parks located at schools serving mostly economically disadvantaged Latinx families. In 2020, we also observed whether children maintained social distance and wore face coverings. Results of negative binomial regression modeling revealed the pandemic was associated with a 46% [95% CI: 20–63%] and 62% [95% CI: 39–76%] decrease in the number of girls and boys at parks, respectively, and a 42% [95% CI: 16–59%] and 60% [95% CI: 36–75%] decrease in the number of girls and boys engaging in physical activity, respectively ( p < 0.01). In total, 60.6% of girls and 73.6% of boys were not social distancing, and 91.8% of the time no children wore masks. Interventions should be considered to safely reintroduce children to parks for health benefits during pandemics.

Keywords: Youth Physical Activity; shared-use parks; urban greenspace; social distancing; face masks; COVID-19 pandemic; Latinx; communities of color; low-income communities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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