Elsevier

Health & Place

Volume 13, Issue 2, June 2007, Pages 557-561
Health & Place

Short communication
Nowhere to play? The relationship between the location of outdoor play areas and deprivation in Glasgow

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2006.03.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Childhood obesity is rising and this rise has been linked to a decrease in physical activity. Access to appropriate facilities for physical activity is a key determinant of participation. This paper investigates the provision of outdoor play areas for children in relation to area deprivation in Glasgow, Scotland. Analysis of the distribution of outdoor play areas showed significantly higher mean number of play areas per 1000 child population in more deprived areas. However, despite the apparent advantage of deprived areas in terms of actual number of play areas, the quality of play areas in different types of areas may warrant further exploration.

Introduction

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children is rising (Chinn and Rona, 2001; Ebbeling et al., 2002), with around a third of children classified as overweight and around 15% obese in the United States (Ogden et al., 2002). In England, around a quarter of all children under 11 years old are overweight or obese (Jotangia et al., 2005). In Scotland, one in three 12 year olds are overweight or obese (Bromley et al., 2005). The health consequences for children of being overweight or obese include an increased risk of developing Type II diabetes (Ludwig and Ebbeling, 2001), asthma (Figueroa-Munoz et al., 2001) and cardiovascular disease risk factors (Young-Hyman et al., 2001). Negative self image, low self esteem and mental health problems are also more prevalent among overweight and obese children (Erickson et al., 2000; Strauss, 2000; Davison and Birch, 2001).

Overweight and obesity in childhood also has implications for health in adulthood with a two fold increase among adults in the risk of death from ischaemic heart disease among those overweight in childhood (Gunnell et al., 1998). In developed countries, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children is associated with low income and increased area deprivation (James et al., 1997; Kinra et al., 2000; Jotangia et al., 2005). The principal cause of obesity is an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure and in children increasing overweight and obesity levels have been linked to a decrease in physical activity (Goran et al., 1999). Current physical activity recommendations for children encourage a minimum of one hour of moderate intensity physical activity per day (Cavill et al., 2001), a target which one in three girls and one in four boys of primary school age in Scotland do not achieve (Bromley et al., 2005). Access to appropriate facilities for physical activity and physically active play has been identified as a key determinant of participation (Sallis et al., 1993).

Some studies have found the provision of formal recreation facilities (such as swimming pools and sports grounds) to be lower in deprived neighbourhoods than in more affluent areas (Macintyre et al., 1993; Giles-Corti et al., 2003). Other studies, focussing on children, have found a higher prevalence of (Karsten, 2001), or greater proximity to (Cradock et al., 2005) play areas in more deprived areas, whilst others have found play areas to be distributed equally across a city (Smoyer-Tomic et al., 2004).

In this study, we examine the location of outdoor play areas in Glasgow city in 2003 in relation to population and deprivation characteristics.

Section snippets

Design and methods

This study was undertaken in Glasgow city in the West of Scotland. The total population of the this area at the time of the 2001 UK Census was 605,808 with 18.1% (109,598) of the total population being children aged between 0 and 14 years. There is a wide range of neighbourhoods within Glasgow city ranging from very deprived to very affluent locales. Health varies greatly too, with Glasgow city containing areas with morbidity and mortality rates among the worst (Shaw et al., 1999), and areas

Results

A total of 319 outdoor play areas were identified within Glasgow city. As Fig. 1 shows, the mean number of play areas per 1000 total population rose across the deprivation categories. There was a significant correlation between the Carstairs scores and the number of play areas per 1000 population in addition to a linear trend (r=0.39, p<=0.001; test for linearity f=15.05, p<0.001). There was also a marked and significant positive correlation for the mean number of play areas per 1000 child

Discussion

The results of this study show a marked relationship between the mean number of play areas and deprivation for the child population, in that more play areas were observed in deprived areas compared to affluent areas. This finding contrasts with our earlier study reporting sporting recreational facilities in two socially contrasting localities in Glasgow (Macintyre et al., 1993) which found fewer formal recreational facilities in a more deprived area of Glasgow than in a more affluent area. It

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Glasgow city council for providing lists and maps of outdoor play areas. We are very grateful to Michaela Benzeval for permission to use the photographs of play areas and to Chloe Hughes for information.

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