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

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.

Neighborhood Greenspace and Changes in Pediatric Obesity During COVID-19

“…Results align with recommendations to keep greenspaces, including parks and trails, accessible to the public, should there be future periods of physical distancing. 12 Several studies have reported reduced park visits early in the pandemic, 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 especially among minoritized or lower SES communities who had lower access to high quality parks before the pandemic. 35 , 38 , 39 This may be due to policies that temporarily closed parks in an effort to reduce disease transmission 37 or due to individuals’ concerns about contagion in public spaces.…”

Changes in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Swedish Population Study

“…However, Spain has implemented strict rules stipulating confinement, which need to be considered when comparing results from Sweden and Spain. A US study that used direct observations of children’s PA revealed a significant decline in the number of physically active children (aged 1–12 years) at parks during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic [ 56 ]. It is important that these habits not persist over time because infrequent participation in PA at a young age is associated with physical inactivity in adulthood [ 57 ].…”

“…Additionally, uncertain data regarding PA before the pandemic due to difficulties remembering performed PA a year ago may have influenced the results. A possible solution to address this limitation in future research is the use of objective measures of PA [ 62 ], such as direct observation [ 56 ]. Third, the 48% drop-out and the overrepresentation of people with a university degree in this study (53%) compared with the Swedish population in general (29%) [ 63 ] might affect the representativeness of the sample.…”

Climate change and physical activity: ambient temperature and urban trail use in Texas

“…To test the associations between hourly ambient air temperature and pedestrian and cyclists counts, we used Poisson nonparametric generalized additive models—with electronic counters as a random effect and including rainfall (hourly millimeter) and weekends (1 = weekend, 0 = not weekend) as covariates—to test for associations with physical activity levels (Zhao et al 2019 ; Lanza et al 2021b , 2020 ). Generalized additive models allow for non-linear relations between independent variables and the outcome and have been applied to assess non-linear associations between ambient temperature or air pollution and health outcomes (Halonen et al 2016 ; Heaney et al 2019 ; Muggeo and Hajat 2009 ; Winckelmans et al 2015 ).…”