Bright Spots, physical activity investments that work: Parkrun; a global initiative striving for healthier and happier communities

Reece, Lindsey; Quirk, Helen; Wellington, Chrissie; Haake, Steve; Wilson, Fiona

doi:10.1136/bjsports-2018-100041

Cited by 43 publications

(45 citation statements)

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“…The modification of organized sport and physical activities to engage priority populations are showing promise to increase physical activity and improve health [18,19,39,40]. Flexible offers which remove barriers to participation (such as annual memberships, long-term commitment to one activity) appear to attract those who are not meeting physical activity guidelines.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overcoming these barriers is vital for the sport sector to engage priority populations in physical activity, getting those doing nothing, doing something [10]. An example of this is parkrun, a free 5 km, time events for people to walk, run or jog in a local park [19]. This organized, leisure time physical activity is accessible to people of all abilities and although timed, the focus is on enjoyment rather than competition [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some football clubs have reported adapting their sport offering to low-intensity or shorter activities to engage a new community group, often spectators or parents, in being more active [17,18]. New physical activity organizations have also emerged such as parkrun which provides free, weekly 5 km events for people to run, walk or jog, focusing on health and happiness rather than high performance [19]. Other examples of modification trends in the sector include 24 h gyms, flexible rules in team sports, casual memberships and training using technology [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lights out, let’s dance! An investigation into participation in No Lights, No Lycra and its association with health and wellbeing

Foley

Vassallo

Reece

2019

BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil

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Background: Organized, leisure time physical activities are an important part of a population approach to increase total physical activity participation. Dancing is a type of organized leisure time activity which may be utilized to enhance public health. Individuals commonly participate in dance during childhood however few maintain participation into adulthood, dropping out of the activity while young. This study aimed to investigate who participates in an emerging dance activity, "No Lights, No Lycra", which encourages people to participate in freeform dancing in the dark for 60 min designed as an inclusive, nonjudgmental, drug and alcohol-free community setting. This version of dance provides a modified opportunity for organized leisure time physical activity. No Lights, No Lycra has recorded increases in attendance at their events over the past decade. This popularity warrants an investigation into participant's demographic characteristics, their total physical activity, as well as their motivations for dancing in the dark and any impacts on health and wellbeing. Methods: This study invited No Lights, No Lycra participants from across Australia to complete a cross-sectional, self-report online survey. Participants were recruited while attending an organized session or through social media channels. The descriptive data provided through survey responses were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics. Results: Participants (n = 1190, 92% Female) reported their main reason for dancing in the dark was to have fun. Most participants were insufficiently active, with 88% of responders not meeting physical activity guidelines. The No Lights, No Lycra dance sessions contributed 23% of their total annual participation in organized physical activities. Conclusion: No Lights, No Lycra attracts adult women, rather than the typical dance participantschildren; These women did not meet physical activity guidelines and typically had low levels of engagement in organized physical activity. Participation in No Lights, No Lycra, shows promise to increase women's physical activity. This study into No Lights, No Lycra demonstrates how dance can be modified to engage a relatively inactive portion of the community. More should be done to understand how modifications to organized sport and physical activities can motivate and maintain engagement of typically inactive people.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Lights out, let’s dance! An investigation into participation in No Lights, No Lycra and its association with health and wellbeing

Foley

Vassallo

Reece

2019

BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil

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“…For example, policy makers can make active transportation by foot or bike more attractive by improving walkability and bicycle infrastructure (63,64), which is known to increase physical activity and prevent CVD in the population (65). Other examples include governmental-led programmes that promotes recreational physical activity, such as Get Scotland Walking (66), national or local non-pro t organisations that work for healthy community-based sports environments, such as DGI in Denmark (67), and other community-based initiatives such as Parkrun (68). These can all play important roles on a national, local, or community-level and should be supported.…”

Section: Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can we walk away from cardiovascular disease risk or do we have to ‘huff and puff’? A cross-sectional compositional accelerometer data analysis among adults and older adults in the Copenhagen City Heart Study

Johansson

Søgaard

Prescott

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: It is unclear whether walking can decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk or if high intensity physical activity (HIPA) is needed, and whether the association is modified by age. We investigated how sedentary behaviour, walking, and HIPA, were associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP), waist circumference (WC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) among adults and older adults in a general population sample using compositional data analysis. Specifically, the measure of association was quantified by reallocating time between sedentary behaviour and 1) walking, and 2) HIPA. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the fifth examination of the Copenhagen City Heart Study was used. Using the software Acti4, we estimated daily time spent in physical behaviours from accelerometer data worn 24 h/day for 7 days (i.e., right frontal thigh and iliac crest; median wear time: 6 days, 23.8 h/day). SBP, WC, and LDL-C were measured during a physical examination. Inclusion criteria were ≥5 days with ≥16 h of accelerometer recordings per day, and no use of antihypertensives, diuretics or cholesterol lowering medicine. The 24-hour physical behaviour composition consisted of sedentary behaviour, standing, moving, walking, HIPA (i.e., sum of climbing stairs, running, cycling and rowing), and time in bed. We used fitted values from linear regression models to predict the difference in outcome given the investigated time reallocations relative to the group-specific mean composition. Results: Among 1053 eligible participants, we found an interaction between the physical behaviour composition and age. Age-stratified analyses (i.e., </≥65 years; 773 adults, 280 older adults) indicated that less sedentary behaviour and more walking was associated with lower SBP among older adults only. For less sedentary behaviour and more HIPA, the results i) indicated an association with lower SBP irrespective of age, ii) showed an association with a smaller WC among adults, and iii) showed an association with a lower LDL-C in both age groups. Conclusions: Less sedentary behaviour and more walking seems to be associated with lower CVD risk among older adults, while HIPA types are associated with lower risk among adults. Therefore, to reduce CVD risk, the modifying effect of age should be considered in future physical activity-promoting initiatives.

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“…Here are two recent examples: (i) Choose to Move, a community-based PA intervention aimed at older adults in British Columbia10 and (ii) Parkrun, a global network of 5 and 2 km runs for people of any age and fitness level across 20 countries 11…”

Section: Gappa Is a Call To Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Let’s share, help deliver and sustain the WHO global action plan on physical activity

2019

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Bright Spots, physical activity investments that work: Parkrun; a global initiative striving for healthier and happier communities

Cited by 43 publications

References 0 publications

Lights out, let’s dance! An investigation into participation in No Lights, No Lycra and its association with health and wellbeing

Lights out, let’s dance! An investigation into participation in No Lights, No Lycra and its association with health and wellbeing

Can we walk away from cardiovascular disease risk or do we have to ‘huff and puff’? A cross-sectional compositional accelerometer data analysis among adults and older adults in the Copenhagen City Heart Study

Let’s share, help deliver and sustain the WHO global action plan on physical activity

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