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

社区公园具有巨大的潜力，可以作为有吸引力和交通便利的环境来促进和提高体育 在种族/族裔多样化的低收入青年中开展活动。然而，很少有以公园为基础的干预 已经进行了研究，以探索如何实现这一潜力。没有以前的公园级别 干预措施已经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 增加儿童入学和参与以公园为基础的青少年体育项目的战略。建议数 研究将这些有希望的干预策略结合到一个单一的干预中，并使用黄金标准 随机对照研究设计，重点是低收入、种族/民族多样性的样本 体力活动中发育下降的风险。这项拟议的研究评估了公园层面的影响 采取干预措施，增加中等/剧烈体力活动(MVPA)，减少低收入人群的久坐时间 6-12岁不同种族/族裔儿童的收入。社区公园(n=24)将随机进行一年 两个实验条件之一的2年期：1)密集外展和青少年体育项目费用 豁免；或2)比较条件：目前外展和青少年体育计划的费用结构。这个 预计干预外展和费用减免部分将支持父母让他们的孩子进入公园- 以青年体育项目为基础，减少对儿童入学的社会/文化和经济障碍，并 参与。评估队列将由432名6-12岁的儿童组成，他们居住在24个公园中的一个公园里 社区随机分配到实验条件下。来自个别儿童的测量结果将是 在基线、6个月、12个月和24个月收集。本研究的具体目标是：具体目标1：评估 公园一级干预对6个月、12个月和24个月儿童MVPA变化的影响；具体目标2： 评估公园水平干预对6、12和24岁以上儿童久坐行为变化的影响 3个月；探索性目标3：评估公园层面干预措施对父母光线变化的影响 6个月、12个月和24个月以上的活动和久坐行为。假设1：住在附近的孩子 在公园被随机分配到密集公园扩展和费用减免的地方，MVPA将有更大的增长 在6个月、12个月和24个月时，与生活在比较中的儿童相比，久坐行为减少 邻里关系。假设2：孩子的父母住在公园被随机分配到的社区 密集的公园扩展和费用减免将使轻度PA增加更多，而久坐减少 6个月、12个月和24个月时的行为与居住在比较社区的孩子的父母相比。 影响：拟议的研究将提供以公园为基础的干预有效性的证据 这包括密集的公园外展和青少年体育项目费用减免，以改变儿童的身体状况 在低收入、多样化的城市社区开展活动。它将提供支持政策所需的关键信息 以及减少高危青年在体育活动方面的差距的计划。

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.