Improving access to public physical activity events for disadvantaged communities in Australia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Physical activity has numerous health benefits, but participation is lower in disadvantaged communities. 'parkrun' overcomes one of the main barriers for disadvantaged communities, the cost of activities, by providing a free, regular community-based physical activity event for walkers, runners and volunteers. This study assesses equity of access (in terms of distance to the nearest parkrun) stratified by socioeconomic deprivation, and identifies the optimal location for 100 new events to increase equity of access.

Methods

We combined information about population location and socioeconomic deprivation, with information about the location of 403 existing parkrun events, to assess the current level of access by deprivation quintile. We then used a two-step location-a

SUBMITTER: Smith JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9375319 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature