Social and Environmental Factors Related to Boys' and Girls' Park-Based Physical Activity.

Introduction: Parks provide opportunities for physical activity for children. This study examined sex differences in correlates of park-based physical activity because differences may indicate that a standard environmental intervention to increase activity among children may not equally benefit boys and girls.

Methods: The System for Observation Play and Recreation in Communities was used to measure physical activity among 2,712 children and adolescents in 20 neighborhood parks in Durham, North Carolina, in 2007.

Park-based physical activity among children and adolescents.

Background: Availability of parks is associated with higher levels of physical activity among children and adolescents. Few studies examine actual park use and park-based physical activity in these populations.

Purpose: This study examined associations among individual, park, and neighborhood environmental characteristics and children's and adolescent's park-based physical activity.

Adaptation of the System for Observing Physical Activity and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) to assess age groupings of children.

Background: To better measure physical activity (PA) in outdoor environments, McKenzie and colleagues developed the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC). However, previous SOPARC research has focused on adults, seniors, teens and children. One avenue for extending this work is to expand the child age group code to capture important nuances that can influence children's PA and their environments.