Journal ArticleDOI
System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC): Reliability and Feasibility Measures
TLDR
SOPARC is a reliable and feasible instrument for assessing physical activity and associated contextual data in community settings and met acceptable criteria for area contexts.Abstract:
Background: New tools are needed to examine physical activity and the contexts in which it occurs. Community parks contribute to physical activity, but measuring activity and associated variables in them is challenging because area contexts change and the numbers and characteristics of users are highly variable. Methods: We developed SOPARC (System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities) and tested its use by observing 16,244 individuals in 165 park areas. Reliabilities included 472 simultaneous measures by independent observers. Results: Correlations between observers on number of area participants was 0.99 for female and male park users. Reliabilities (i.e., percent agreement) for age (89%, females; 85%, males), race/ethnic (80%, females; 82%, males), and activity level (80%, females; 88%, males) groupings met acceptable criteria. Reliabilities for area contexts (i.e., usable, accessible, supervised, organized, equipped) exceeded 94%. Conclusions: SOPARC is a reliable and feasible instrument for assessing physical activity and associated contextual data in community settings.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Patterns of Physical Activity Among Women Incarcerated in Jail.
Ricky Camplain,Travis A. Pinn,Lyle Becenti,Heather J. Williamson,George Pro,Crystal Luna,James Bret +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors observed women at a Southwest county jail during "recreation time," a time when physical activity is encouraged, to identify the proportion of women who participated in recreation time and their physical activity levels and found that 28% of women attended; 56% were sedentary, 4% engaged in vigorous physical activity, and approximately 40% walked or performed similarly moderate physical activity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Adaptation of the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) for the Measurement of Physical Activity in Jail Settings.
Ricky Camplain,Travis A. Pinn,Heather J. Williamson,George Pro,Lyle Becenti,James Bret,Crystal Luna,Julie A. Baldwin +7 more
TL;DR: The adapted SOPARC protocol for jails included start and end times, the number of individuals that attended, and recreation time users’ physical activity levels, footwear, outerwear, uniform color, and use of mobility assistive devices.
Environmental Psychology and Urban Green Space: Supporting Place-Based Conservation in Philadelphia, PA
TL;DR: This article explored theoretical components of environmental psychology and place attachment as related to the socio-environmental benefits of urban green spaces and found that few participants have attachment to the space, but this does not inhibit perceptions of its quality and worth.
Journal ArticleDOI
Unique Views on Obesity-Related Behaviors and Environments: Research Using Still and Video Images.
TL;DR: Technological advances will support the increased use of images in the assessment of physical activity, nutrition behaviors, and environments by development of automated data extraction methods for diverse aspects of behavior, environment, and food characteristics.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Compendium of physical activities: an update of activity codes and MET intensities.
Barbara E. Ainsworth,William L. Haskell,Melicia C. Whitt,Melinda L. Irwin,A. M. Swartz,Scott J. Strath,O'Brien Wl,David R. Bassett,Kathryn H. Schmitz,Patricia O. Emplaincourt,David R. Jacobs,Arthur S. Leon +11 more
TL;DR: An updated version of the Compendium of Physical Activities, a coding scheme that classifies specific physical activity (PA) by rate of energy expenditure, is provided to enhance the comparability of results across studies using self-reports of PA.
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The continuing epidemics of obesity and diabetes in the United States.
TL;DR: The prevalence of obesity and diabetes continues to increase among US adults, and interventions are needed to improve physical activity and diet in communities nationwide.
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Environmental factors associated with adults' participation in physical activity: a review
TL;DR: Physical environment factors have consistent associations with physical activity behavior and further development of ecologic and environmental models, together with behavior-specific and context-specific measurement strategies, should help in further understanding of these associations.
Journal ArticleDOI
Environmental and policy interventions to promote physical activity
TL;DR: In this article, a model describing the development of policy and environmental interventions is proposed, in the hope of stimulating more research in this area, and two studies showed that placing signs encouraging stair use can be effective.
Journal ArticleDOI
The significance of parks to physical activity and public health: a conceptual model.
TL;DR: A conceptual model is proposed to guide thinking and suggest hypotheses about the relationships between park benefits, park use, and physical activity, and the antecedents/correlates of park use that focus on park environmental characteristics that could be related to physical activity.