Abstract

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Paper
Perceived vs. Objective Measures of Recreational Facilities
Track: Health and Human Services
Author(s): Molly Scott, Deborah Cohen, Kelly Evenson, Kelly Evenson

Objectives: To explore the relationship between adolescent girls' perceptions of recreational facilities and their number and presence in neighborhoods; and to determine if these facility measures were associated with girls' met-weighted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MW-MVPA) outside of school hours. Methods: Girls participating in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls reported whether it was easy to get to 9 types of recreational facilities. The girls' addresses were then geocoded and all facilities in parks, schools, and commercial sites within a mile of the girls homes were documented. Accelerometers recorded each girls' MW-MVPA. Results: The number of facilities within a half-mile of girls' homes strongly predicted the perception of easy access to 7 of 9 facility types. Both individual facility perceptions and the total number of facilities perceived were associated with increased physical activity. With the exception of basketball courts, objective facility measures were otherwise unrelated to physical activity.

Molly Scott
RAND
1200 S Hayes St
Arlington , VA 22202
US
Phone: (703) 413-1100
E-mail: mscott@rand.org

Deborah Cohen
The RAND Corporation
Behavioral Sciences
1776 Main Street
Santa Monica , CA 90401-3208
US
Phone: (310) 393-0411
E-mail: dcohen@rand.org

Kelly Evenson
University of North Carolina
Dept of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
137 E Franklin St
Bank of America Center, Suite 306
Chapel Hill , NC 27514
US
Phone: 919-966-4187
E-mail: kevenson@email.unc.edu

Kelly Evenson
University of North Carolina
Dept of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
137 E Franklin St
Bank of America Center, Suite 306
Chapel Hill , NC 27514
US
Phone: 919-966-4187
E-mail: kevenson@email.unc.edu