09 February 2012
A new scientific study in Health & Place (v. 18, no. 1, Jan. 2012, p. 39-45) has just been released:
http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120003.html
The study, looking at outdoor fitness equipment installations in the Los Angeles, entitled Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Family Fitness Zones - A Natural Experiment in Urban Public Parks was conducted by Deborah Cohen, Terry Marsh, Stephanie Williamson, and Daniela Golinelli.
It finds that the use of parks with and without outdoor exercise equipment did not differ significantly. However, the users and how they use the parks differ, with significantly more individuals reporting that they were new park users, and higher estimated energy expenditure in parks with the outdoor equipment.
Deborah Cohen, a senior natural scientist with the RAND Corporation, studied 12 parks with the exercise equipment and noted that Fitness Zones attracted new visitors, particularly in the lowest-income neighbourhoods. “In small parks where there wasn’t much else going on, a lot of people said that’s the reason they come,” she says. And although men generally outnumber women in parks, the Fitness Zones were frequented by more women. Cohen’s research also showed that people in parks with Fitness Zones were more active than those in parks without them — even if they weren’t using the equipment. “The Fitness Zones serve as a cue to remind people to exercise,” she says.
(From the Washington Post: http://www.expressnightout.com/2012/02/not-a-walk-in-the-park/)
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