Childrensʼ Physical Activity Places

Growing empirical evidence documents built environment effects on adults' physical activity, but little is known about environment effects on children's physical activity. Indeed, environments in which adults are active may differ significantly from the environments in which children are active, necessitating a sophisticated approach to public health and environment approaches to increase physical activity across the lifespan. Purpose To examine the relations between the number of places children are active and their levels of physical activity, neighborhood environment, and individual characteristics. Methods Parents of 201 children 4–18 years old were recruited from high and low walkable neighborhoods in King County, WA. Parents reported on the places where their children are active and the places' convenience to their home, their children's activity level, and individual characteristics. Results From a list of 15 potential places in which children could be active in a typical month, friends' homes, own yards, parks, and playgrounds were more frequently visited by children in order to be active than the street and gyms or other paid facilities. The number of places children went to be active was positively related to the number of activity-related facilities convenient to home (<10 minute walk from home) (p<.019), but the number of different children's activity places decreased with child age (p<.007). The number of places a child went to be active was positively related to their level of physical activity (p<.001). In contrast, children went to fewer places to be active when living in neighborhoods marked by environmental factors associated with higher adult physical activity, particularly adults walking for transport (e.g., higher residential density, higher land use mix) (p<.04). Conclusions Children's physical activity appears to benefit from a greater variety of places in which to be active and greater convenience of such activity places. However, the built environment in which adults are more active in the form of walking for transport may not necessarily translate into increased variety in the places in which children are active. Further evaluation of physical activity environments and the potential unique impact of such environments on children is warranted. Supported by NIH grant HL67350.