Background
In general, racial and ethnic minorities have lower levels of physical activity. Consequently, determining how certain amenities affect minority groups’ use of green spaces for active living has important implications for their physical health. Promotion of physical activity is particularly important for Latino(a)s, who constitute the fastest growing and one of the least active groups in the U.S.
Objectives
This study employed an ecological model to examine the impact of sport facilities and trails on the utilization of natural environments for active recreation by Latino(a) Americans. Its goal was to determine the types of amenities that would maximize the use of green spaces for physical activity by the Latino(a) population.
The hypotheses included:
1) Latino males are more physically active in natural environments with sport facilities than they are in natural environments with trails.
2) Latina females are more physically active in natural environments with trails than they are in natural environments with sport facilities.
Methods
This study consisted of several components. In June and July, 2005, a survey was distributed to 900 Latino(a)s in three types of settings in the metro-Chicago area: a sports-complex, a trail system and two parks. In the second stage (in progress at the time of this abstract), 240 Latino(a) users are being asked to wear an accelerometer and complete an activity diary. The independent variable (the availability of sport facilities and the extent of the trail system) was measured with the use of existing park district data and direct observations. The dependent variable (physical activity) is measured using accelerometers, activity diaries, and surveys. Demographic characteristics and the distance to the users’ homes (control variables) were measured with surveys. Maintenance of grounds and facilities, size of the park/sports-complex/trail system and safety (control variables) were measured using direct observations and park district data. Following the completion of data collection (in September 2005), descriptive statistics will be computed and the characteristics of the data distributions examined. Various park/sports-complex/trail system usage models will be tested and parameter invariance by gender examined using the SEM. Chi-square-related statistics will be employed to examine the proportion of difference in activities participated by various park/sports-complex/trail system usage groups. Factorial ANOVA will be used to examine the effects of amenities and gender on users’ calories burned during the seven-day period.
Results
Preliminary results of the survey data indicated that the sports-complex was primarily used for physical activity by Latino men. The main physical activity engaged in was soccer – 31% of respondents indicated they played at least several times a week. The second most popular physical activity was walking – almost 20% of respondents walked there at least several times a week. The passive uses included playing with children, resting/relaxing, and talking/socializing (22.9%, 29% and 21.2% participated at least several times a week). Forty-five percent of respondents reported participating in vigorous leisure-time physical activity and 37% in moderate leisure-time physical activity in the past week. Seventy-two percent reported walking for at least 10 minutes in the past week.
With the exception of walking, parks were used for physical activity less frequently. 19.4% of respondents reported walking at least several times a week. The second most popular physical activity was soccer – 13.7% of respondents played soccer at least several times a week. Parks were used for passive activities slightly more frequently than the sports-complex. The most common passive uses included talking/socializing, playing with children, and sitting/relaxing (24.7%, 23.7% and 21.1% participated at least several times a week). Fewer visitors to the parks reported vigorous leisure-time physical activity (37.1%). However, more people engaged in moderate leisure-time physical activity (44.8%) and walking (83.8%).
Trails were used for physical activity least often. The most popular physical activity--walking was engaged in by 15.6% of respondents several times a week. Other physical activities included playing games and dog walking (11.1% of respondents reported participation at least several times a week). The most common passive activities included sitting/relaxing/resting and talking/socializing (22.2% and 20% reported participation at least several times a week). People surveyed along the trails reported the highest levels of leisure-time physical activity – 51.1% engaged in vigorous and 66.7% in moderate leisure-time physical activity. The highest proportion of people out of the three environments (95.6%) reported walking for at least 10 minutes a day.
Conclusions
The preliminary data indicates significant differences in the use of natural environments for physical activity among Latino(a)s. Environments with extensive sports facilities are more conducive to physical activity, but only among men. Parks and trails are used for physical activity less often, but gender differences in participation are not as pronounced. People using trails report highest rates of vigorous and moderate leisure-time physical activity.
Support
This study was conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research grant #052957.
