Public open spaces in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods have fewer amenitiesCrawford and colleagues investigated relationships between neighborhood socioeconomic status and park features likely to promote children's physical activity (e.g., athletic tracks, walking paths, water features, etc.).
Researchers collected data for 540 families of 5- to 6- and 10- to 12-year-old children in Melbourne, Australia from diverse socioeconomic areas. Crawford and colleagues geo-coded participant addresses, identifying all public open spaces within an 800 meter radius of each participant's home. Researchers also created a tool and visited each public open space to assess its features.
In analyzing the data, Crawford and colleagues found that while low and high socioeconomic neighborhoods had similar numbers of playgrounds and recreation facilities, public open spaces in the highest socioeconomic neighborhoods were significantly more likely to have more amenities such as picnic tables, drinking fountains, trees with shade, paths, lights and signage as compared to spaces in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods.
While additional research is needed to more fully understand the relationship between the quantity and quality of public open spaces and children's physical activity, this study suggests that children of lower socioeconomic position may have fewer opportunities to engage in physical activity.
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