Abstract
Parks are places where children can interact with others and engage in physical activity in a natural setting. Park visits can enhance children’s social, mental, and physical health. It is therefore important to better understand how parks can be designed to ensure optimal use by children. This qualitative study explored children’s perceptions of park features that may influence their park visits, park-based physical activity, and social interaction. Qualitative walk-along interviews were completed with 30 children (mean age 9.7 years (SD 1.3), female n = 16) in nine parks located in varying socioeconomic areas of Melbourne, Australia. As they walked through the park, children shared thoughts regarding characteristics that may influence their visitation, park-based physical activity, and social interactions. Features that would encourage visitation included: challenging and interesting play equipment; a pond and water play area; trees/greenery and shade; and full-sized basketball courts. Features most valued for physical activity included: sports courts, ovals, and equipment; open space; trees to climb; and nature/rocks. Features most valued for social interaction included: a large size; playgrounds; and picnic areas. Children offer unique and important views. Park designers should consider inclusion of these features, when (re)developing parks to support children to lead healthy and active lives.
Highlights
Parks are important locations for children to explore the natural environment, socialise with family and friends, engage in physical activity, and develop new skills such as fundamental motor skills [1], which are important for children’s physical, social, and mental well-being [2]
More than half of the parents (60%) reported that their child usually walked to the park they visited most often, and 53% usually engaged in mostly moderate-intensity activities when at the park
This study provided an in-depth exploration of features that might promote park visitation, park-based physical activity, and social interaction from the child’s perspective
Summary
Parks are important locations for children to explore the natural environment, socialise with family and friends, engage in physical activity, and develop new skills such as fundamental motor skills [1], which are important for children’s physical, social, and mental well-being [2]. Engaging in physical activity outdoors has been shown to have multiple social, psychological, and physiological health benefits [3]. Many parks are not being used to their full potential [4,5,6], and observational studies have shown that more than one-third of children are sedentary during visits to parks [4,5,6,7,8]. A study among 11–12-year-old children in the UK showed that the amount of time spent in moderate–vigorous-intensity physical activity in greenspace was low Public Health 2020, 17, 4625; doi:10.3390/ijerph17134625 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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