From April to July , we recruited participants from 5 communities in Colorado with high rates of poverty, inactivity, and obesity; conducted 20 focus groups with parents and 42 youth; and interviewed 8 stakeholders. All focus group participants completed intake surveys. We analyzed focus group and interviews by using constant comparison. At the community level, barriers included affordability, traffic safety, illicit activity in public spaces, access to high-quality facilities, transportation, neighborhood inequities, program availability, lack of information, and low community engagement.
Survey respondents most commonly cited lack of affordable options and traffic safety as barriers. Study participants also identified recommendations for addressing these barriers. In this formative study of Colorado families, participants confirmed barriers to physical activity that previous research on low-income communities has documented, and these varied by geographic location.
Participants proposed a set of solutions for addressing barriers and endorsed community input as an essential first step for planning community-level health initiatives. Although Colorado has the highest rate of adult physical activity in the United States 2 , children rank lower on physical activity, and this rate is lowest among children in low-income households 3.
A foundation-funded effort is under way to increase physical activity among children in low-income families. We conducted a primarily qualitative study that used 3 data sources: 1 focus groups with parents and youth, 2 interviews with community stakeholders, and 3 an intake survey of focus group participants.
We recruited study participants from 5 communities in Colorado with high rates of low-income households, physical inactivity, and child obesity. The sites we selected reflected the 4 geographic regions within the state: 2 communities were located in the same large city in the Urban Corridor, a small city was located in the Western Slope; and 2 small towns were located in each of the Mountain Range and Eastern Plains regions. Youth were eligible if they were cared for by participating parents.
A market research firm recruited families by calling residents whose names were in its proprietary database and advertising through social media and local organizations.
In each community, we conducted 3 focus groups with parents 1 each with parents of children aged 3 to 7, 8 to 11, and 12 to 14 ; 1 focus group with to year-old youth from these families; and interviews with stakeholders. The intake survey assessed participation in physical activities and perceived barriers to participation 6, In total, we conducted 20 focus groups with parents and 42 youth and interviews with 8 stakeholders from April to July We audio recorded and transcribed all focus groups and interviews.
The Health Media Laboratory institutional review board approved all research protocols. The 3 coauthors used thematic analysis to inductively analyze the qualitative data from focus groups and interviews. Next, we summarized findings for each group and community, reconciled discrepancies in meaning through discussion and systematic review, and merged findings across groups and communities under themes.
We used SAS software version 9. We grouped themes according to family and community contexts, a process that is consistent with ecological models of health behavior Although themes cut across levels, we identified 3 related primarily to the family context and 9 related primarily to the community context. We summarize themes, provide illustrative quotes, and present solutions identified from the focus groups in Table 2. The themes generally cut across age groups and communities; we note instances in which we observed variation across subgroups.
Several parents indicated that their work schedules make it challenging to enroll children in organized activities or to be active with children at home. Many activities take place after school, which is not feasible for parents whose work schedule precludes them from transporting children to activities in the afternoon. Parents who work at night or on the weekends, which was common among parents in a rural Mountain Range community, have less time to be physically active with their children.
As solutions, parents, youth, and stakeholders recommended increasing activities that focus on fun and fitness, such as dance classes, or sports teams that emphasize social—emotional aspects rather than competition. Youth described avoiding activities because they conflict with the time when they complete homework. Others said family obligations, such as caring for siblings or chores, limit their participation.
To address these conflicts, parents suggested offering activities during non—after-school times that enable children to participate in academic work and physical activity. In the Urban Corridor and Mountain Range communities, parents reported that this barrier was exacerbated by the high cost of living in their communities.
Some communities offer financial assistance to families, but parents and community stakeholders described the application as a complicated process that required families to divulge private information.
As potential solutions, parents and stakeholders suggested that communities make these activities more affordable, for example, by offering low-cost or free activities sponsored by towns or community organizations, creating equipment exchanges, and offering financial aid that is accessible and noninvasive.
Parents commonly cited safety hazards related to cars and traffic — particularly in the Western Slope and Urban Corridor communities — as barriers to their allowing children to play or travel outside. In particular, parents identified the absence or poor condition of sidewalks and crosswalks as a barrier to playing outside and biking and walking to parks.
Cars drive by too fast. Concerns about neighborhood safety prevent parents from allowing children to play in parks and playgrounds, even with a supervising adult. Communities in all 4 regions reported this concern. Parents and youth expressed concerns about adults or older teens they perceived as threatening, peer violence, unleashed dogs, and poorly maintained public spaces and equipment.
In the Urban Corridor community, parents expressed concern with drug use near parks, especially now that recreational use of marijuana is legal in Colorado. Parents had mixed opinions about the value of increasing police presence in their neighborhoods. Parents and stakeholders suggested making sure that public spaces are free of garbage, graffiti, and drug paraphernalia; improving lighting; and providing clean and safe restrooms.
If you divide the days among you, you can guarantee the accompaniment of all of your children throughout the week. The Environmental Health and Health Promotion Committees of the Spanish Pediatric Association have expressed the need to encourage the population to allow children to walk to school. This is due to the high rates of sedentary lifestyles that have been recorded in recent years. This institution has taken notice of the scarce use of active transport on foot or by bicycle when going to school and points out that the majority of children travel in motor vehicles cars, motorcycles, or buses.
At the same time, the World Health Organization recommends that children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17 invest at least 60 minutes a day in the practice of some type of physical activity.
Such recommendations include simple tasks such as walking to school or traveling by some other active means of transport, such as cycling. In addition to the above, walking offers various health benefits for all people, regardless of their age or gender. For this reason, children, youth and adults can take advantage of this type of activity every day. The main objective of the walk is for children to have an active lifestyle and to benefit physically and psychologically.
Walking regularly contributes to the well-being of the body and stands out as an aerobic physical activity. Among the most important benefits, we can highlight the increase in vital capacity and cardiovascular health, aspects that gradually improve.
Walking to school makes children exert themselves physically. This causes an increase in heart and respiratory rates, which optimizes obtaining oxygen from the environment. By walking for 30 to 60 minutes a day, the muscles are forced to stay active. In: U.
Department of Health and Human Services, ed Barriers to children walking to or from school—united states, MMWR: Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Physical activity guidelines for americans midcourse report: Strategies to increase physical activity among youth. Washington D. Youth risk behavior surveillance — united states, SS-8 :1— Physical activity interventions in the school setting: A systematic review. Psychology of sport and exercise.
School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6 to Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Physically active lessons as physical activity and educational interventions: A systematic review of methods and results.
What childhood obesity prevention programmes work? Obesity Reviews. Washington State Institute for Public Policy. Benefit-cost technical documentation: Washington state institute for public policy benefit-cost model.
Washington State Dec
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