Neighborhood park access and park characteristics are associated with weight status in youth.

This study investigated park access and park quality in the context of childhood obesity. Participants were 20,638 children ages 6-17y from a large primary care health system. Analyses tested associations of park access and park characteristics with children's weight status, and sociodemographic interactions.

Physical Activity and Social Comparison: The Importance of Group Composition in an Employee Fitbit Intervention.

This study examined the impact of group composition of a 6-week group-based employee Fitbit intervention on daily physical activity steps. Group composition comprised heterogenous and homogeneous groupings based on variations in baseline high, medium, and low steppers. The intervention included weekly step leaderboard information, motivational and informative messages, and the ability to participate in group step challenges.

Until It's a regulation It's not my fight: Complexities of a voluntary nonlead hunting ammunition program.

Wildlife and human health are at risk of lead exposure from spent hunting ammunition. Lead exposure persists for bald eagles due to bullet fragments in game animal gut piles and unretrieved carcasses, and is also a human health risk when wild game is procured using lead ammunition. Programs encouraging the voluntary use of nonlead ammunition have become a popular approach mitigating these effects.

Place Attachment, Climate Friendly Behavior, and Support for Climate Friendly Management Action among State Park Visitors.

This study examined the role of place attachment in determining visitors' willingness to engage in climate friendly behavior in parks and support for management actions to minimize climate-change impacts. The sample consisted of visitors to Missouri State Parks (n = 1775). Place attachment was measured using 12 items of place identity, place dependence, and social bonding.

Climate Change Communication in the Midwestern United States: Perceptions of State Park Interpreters.

Parks and protected areas can be ideal settings for climate change communication since many visitors have an affinity for natural and cultural settings, and an interest in resource protection. However, climate-based education efforts in the Midwestern United States may need a slightly different approach since this region lacks obvious indicators, such as sea level rise and melting glaciers. Interpretation, an informal communication process designed to transmit scientific information to visitors in leisure-based settings, could be a useful strategy for engaging visitors in climate change discussions.

The Electronic Community Park Audit Tool (eCPAT): Exploring the Use of Mobile Technology for Youth Empowerment and Advocacy for Healthy Community Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change.

Empowering and engaging youth in advocacy and participatory action research (PAR) for healthy community environments is an emerging approach to reducing the childhood obesity epidemic. Technology is a promising strategy for engaging youth in such efforts. The Community Park Audit Tool (CPAT) is user-friendly tool for evaluating the ability of parks to promote youth physical activity.

"We actually care and we want to make the parks better": A qualitative study of youth experiences and perceptions after conducting park audits.

This study explored youths' experiences and perceptions about community engagement as a result of participating in a community-based data collection project using paper and mobile technology park environmental audit tools. In July 2014, youth (ages 11-18, n=50) were recruited to participate in nine focus groups after auditing two parks each using paper, electronic, or both versions of the Community Park Audit Tool in Greenville County, SC. The focus groups explored the youths' experiences participating in the project, changes as a result of participation, suggested uses of park audit data collected, and who should use the tools.

A longitudinal examination of improved access on park use and physical activity in a low-income and majority African American neighborhood park.

This study sought to evaluate the impact of street crossing infrastructure modifications on park use and park-based physical activity in a low-income and African American community. A five-lane major highway created an access barrier between low-income housing units and the local neighborhood park in Columbia, Missouri. The installation of a signalized pedestrian crosswalk provided an opportunity to conduct a natural experiment to examine the effect of improved safe access upon community active living behaviors.

ParkIndex: Development of a standardized metric of park access for research and planning.

Objective: A lack of comprehensive and standardized metrics for measuring park exposure limits park-related research and health promotion efforts. This study aimed to develop and demonstrate an empirically-derived and spatially-represented index of park access (ParkIndex) that would allow researchers, planners, and citizens to evaluate the potential for park use for a given area.

Methods: Data used for developing ParkIndex were collected in 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO).

Park availability and physical activity, TV time, and overweight and obesity among women: Findings from Australia and the United States.

This study examined relationships between three measures of park availability and self-reported physical activity (PA), television viewing (TV) time, and overweight/obesity among women from Australia and the United States. Having more parks near home was the only measure of park availability associated with an outcome. Australian women (n=1848) with more parks near home had higher odds of meeting PA recommendations and lower odds of being overweight/obese.

The Impact of a Signalized Crosswalk on Traffic Speed and Street-Crossing Behaviors of Residents in an Underserved Neighborhood.

Infrastructure improvements such as pedestrian crosswalks that calm traffic and increase access to physical activity opportunities could alleviate important barriers to active living in underserved communities with outdated built environments. The purpose of this study was to explore how the built environment influences street-crossing behaviors and traffic speeds in a low-income neighborhood with barriers to active living in Columbia, Missouri. In 2013, a signalized pedestrian crosswalk and 400-ft-long median was constructed along a busy 5-lane, high-speed arterial highway linking low-income housing with a park and downtown areas.

Point-of-decision prompts for increasing park-based physical activity: a crowdsource analysis.

Objective: To examine the potential efficacy of using point-of-decision prompts to influence intentions to be active in a park setting.

Methods: In June 2013, participants from across the U.S.

Motivations for recreating on farmlands, private forests, and state or national parks.

This study explores the importance of different motivations to visit three types of recreational settings--farms, private forests, and state or national parks. Data were collected via a mail-back questionnaire administered to a stratified random sample of households in Missouri (USA). Descriptive and inferential statistics reveal both similarities and discontinuities in motivations for visiting farms, private forests, and state or national parks for recreation.

Association of outdoor recreation availability with physical activity and weight status in Minnesota youth.

Objective: Examine macro-level associations of youth physical activity (PA) and weight status with availability of outdoor recreation resources (i.e., parkland, forestland, natural preserves, nonmotorized trails, and motorized trails) across counties in Minnesota.

Perceptions of neighborhood park quality: associations with physical activity and body mass index.

Background: Parks are important resources for physical activity (PA), yet few studies have examined how perceptions of park characteristics relate to PA and health.

Purpose: This study investigated associations between perceptions of neighborhood park quality and overall moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), park-based PA, and body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Data were collected via questionnaire from 893 households in Kansas City, Missouri.

Exploring the distribution of park availability, features, and quality across Kansas City, Missouri by income and race/ethnicity: an environmental justice investigation.

Background: Parks are key community assets for physical activity, but some evidence suggests these resources are not equitably distributed.

Purpose: This study examined disparities by income and race/ethnicity in the availability, features, and quality of parks across Kansas City, Missouri.

Methods: All parks and census tracts (CTs) were mapped using geographical information systems, and park features and quality were determined via audits.

Demographic variations in observed energy expenditure across park activity areas.

Objective: Parks are important physical activity (PA) settings, but few studies have examined PA differences between park areas according to multiple user demographic characteristics. This study explored variations in adult/senior and child/teen PA intensity across park settings by gender, age, and race/ethnicity.

Methods: In July-August 2009, the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) was used in four parks in Kansas City, Missouri to record park users' PA behavior within specific park areas.

Variations in observed park physical activity intensity level by gender, race, and age: individual and joint effects.

Background: Parks are important settings for physical activity (PA), but few studies have documented the actual behaviors of park users. The purpose of this study was to examine the individual and joint effects of various park user demographic characteristics on observed PA intensity levels.

Methods: Four parks were observed using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities.

Parks and health: differences in constraints and negotiation strategies for park-based leisure time physical activity by stage of change.

Background: Public parks are increasingly recognized as important places that facilitate physical activity. Despite the presence of parks, constraints to recreation and physical activity at parks exist. As the health benefits identified with physical activity require long-term and regular activity, it is important to examine factors pertaining to physical activity participation beyond initiation.