Neighborhood Park Youth Sports Program Fee Waiver and Intensive Family Outreach to Promote Physical Activity in Low-Income Children Ages 6-12 Years

邻里公园作为一种有吸引力和可访问的环境，具有很大的潜力，可以促进和增强人们的身体健康。 活动（PA）在种族/民族多样化的低收入青年。然而，很少有公园为基础的干预 已经进行了研究，探讨如何实现这一潜力。没有以前的公园级别 干预实验性地评估了青少年体育项目的费用减免或密集的公园外展 提高儿童入学率和参与公园青年体育项目的战略。拟议 研究将这些有希望的干预策略结合成一个单一的干预措施，并使用金标准 随机对照研究设计，重点是低收入，种族/民族多样化的样本， 在体力活动中有发育下降的风险。这项研究评估了公园水平的影响， 干预增加中度/剧烈体力活动（MVPA），并减少低- 收入种族/民族多样化的儿童，年龄6-12岁。邻里公园（n=24）将被随机分配， 2-两个实验条件之一：1）密集推广和青年体育计划费 豁免;或2）比较条件：目前的外展和青年体育计划的费用结构。的 干预推广和费用减免部分预计将支持父母将其子女送入公园， 通过减少儿童入学的社会/文化和经济障碍，基于青少年体育项目， 参与的评估队列将由居住在24个公园之一的432名6-12岁儿童组成 随机分配到实验条件下的社区。对单个儿童的测量将 在基线、6、12和24个月时采集。本研究的具体目标是：具体目标1：评估 公园级干预对6个月、12个月和24个月儿童MVPA变化的影响;具体目标2： 评估公园水平干预措施对6岁、12岁和24岁以上儿童久坐行为变化的影响 探索性目标3：评估公园级干预措施对父母光变化的影响 活动和久坐行为超过6，12和24个月。假设1：住在附近的孩子 如果公园被随机分配到密集的公园外展和费用减免，MVPA将有更大的增加 与生活在对照组的儿童相比， 小区假设2：居住在公园被随机分配到 密集的公园外展和费用减免将使轻型PA的增加幅度更大， 在6个月，12个月和24个月的行为相对于父母的孩子谁住在比较邻里。 影响：拟议的研究将提供有关公园干预措施有效性的证据 这包括密集的公园外展和青少年体育项目费用减免的变化，儿童的身体 低收入、多元化城市社区的活动。它将提供支持政策所需的关键信息 以及减少高危青少年体育活动差异的项目。

Neighborhood parks hold great potential as attractive and accessible settings to promote and enhance physical activity (PA) among racially/ethnically diverse low-income youth. However, little park-based intervention research has been conducted to explore how this potential might be realized. No previous park-level intervention has experimentally evaluated youth sports program fee waivers or intensive park outreach strategies to increase child enrollment and participation in park-based youth sports programs. The proposed research combines these promising intervention strategies into a single intervention and uses a gold-standard randomized controlled study design, and focuses on a low-income, racially/ethnically diverse sample at highest risk for developmental declines in physical activity. The proposed study evaluates the effects of a park-level intervention to increase moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and decrease sedentary time among low- income racially/ethnically diverse children ages 6-12 yrs. Neighborhood parks (n=24) will be randomized for a 2-year period to one of two experimental conditions: 1) Intensive Outreach and Youth Sports Program Fee Waiver; or 2) Comparison Condition: Current Outreach and Youth Sports Program Fee Structure. The intervention outreach and fee waiver components are expected to support parents to enroll their child in park- based youth sports programs by decreasing social/cultural and economic barriers to child enrollment and participation. The evaluation cohort will consist of 432 children ages 6-12 yrs who reside in one of the 24 park neighborhoods randomized to the experimental conditions. Measurements from individual children will be collected at baseline, 6, 12, and 24 months. Specific Aims of this research are: Specific Aim 1: To evaluate the effects of a park-level intervention on changes in child MVPA over 6, 12 and 24 months; Specific Aim 2: To evaluate the effects of a park-level interventions on changes in child sedentary behavior over 6, 12 and 24 months; Exploratory Aim 3: To evaluate the effects of a park-level interventions on changes in parent light activity and sedentary behavior over 6, 12 and 24 months. Hypothesis 1: Children who live in a neighborhood where the park is randomized to intensive park outreach and fee waiver will have larger increases in MVPA and decreases in sedentary behavior at 6, 12 and 24 months relative to children who live in a comparison neighborhood. Hypothesis 2: Parents of children who live in a neighborhood where the park is randomized to intensive park outreach and fee waiver will have larger increases in light PA and decreases in sedentary behavior at 6, 12 and 24 months relative to parents of children who live in a comparison neighborhood. IMPACT: The proposed research will provide evidence about the effectiveness of a park-based intervention that includes intensive park outreach and youth sports program fee waivers on changes in child physical activity in low-income, diverse urban communities. It will provide critical information needed to support policies and programs that reduce disparities in physical activity among high risk youth.