What Brings Children to the Park? Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children's Use of Parks
What Brings Children to the Park? Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children's Use of Parks
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DOI：
10.1080/01944360903418338
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发表时间：
2010-01-01
影响因子：
5.6
通讯作者：
Sideris, Athanasios
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia;Sideris, Athanasios
问题：孩子们很少使用许多社区公园，即使他们有积极的娱乐设施。目的：我们研究了把孩子带到公园的因素，旨在了解公园参观模式在男孩和女孩之间，不同种族和民族的孩子之间，以及市中心和郊区的孩子之间的差异。方法：对12所中学的学生及其家长进行问卷调查，并对结果进行分析。我们的团队还观察了50个市中心和50个郊区公园的儿童，我们使用包含公园和社区层面变量的多元回归模型将它们与使用公园的儿童数量联系起来。结果与结论：本研究证实，许多中学生很少使用公园。这主要是因为他们自己对现有的公园活动缺乏兴趣，他们的家人缺乏时间和对安全的担忧。积极的娱乐设施和有组织的体育项目，自然特征，以及良好的维护和清洁水平是吸引中学生去公园的最重要因素。我们的调查发现，一些显着的性别，种族和民族的偏好公园设备，公园安全的看法，公园参观模式的差异。此外，我们的回归模型证实，市中心和郊区的儿童被吸引到不同规模的公园，包含不同的设施，公园安全和公园使用之间的关联也是不同的，在这两个设置。练习要点：邻里公园提供了积极的娱乐潜力，但它们往往没有得到充分利用，只吸引了一小部分邻里儿童。公园管理者应该考虑到不同的因素吸引不同的儿童群体去公园。研究支持：这项研究得到了约翰兰多夫和多拉海恩斯基金会的支持。
Problem: Children make little use of many neighborhood parks even though they have facilities for active recreation. Purpose: We examined the factors that bring children to parks, and aimed to understand how park visitation patterns differ between boys and girls, among children of different races and ethnicities, and between inner-city and suburban children. Methods: We surveyed children and their parents in 12 middle schools and analyzed the results. Our team also observed children at 50 inner-city and 50 suburban parks, and we used multiple regression models containing park- and neighborhood-level variables to relate them to the numbers of children using parks. Results and conclusions: The study confirms that many middle-school children make little use of parks. This is primarily explained by their own lack of interest in the existing park activities and their households' lack of time and concerns about safety. Active recreation facilities and organized sport programs, natural features, and good levels of maintenance and cleanliness are the most significant factors attracting middle-school children to parks. Our survey found some significant gender, racial, and ethnic differences in preferences for park equipment, perceptions of park safety, and park visitation patterns. Additionally, our regression models confirmed that inner-city and suburban children were attracted to parks of different sizes and containing different facilities, and that the association between park safety and park use was also different in these two settings. Takeaway for practice: Neighborhood parks provide the potential for active recreation, but they are often underutilized and attract only a subset of neighborhood children. Planners should take into account that different factors attract different groups of children to parks. Research support: This research was supported by the John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation.