Physical Activity Surveillance in Parks Using Direct Observation

Physical Activity Surveillance in Parks Using Direct Observation

INTRODUCTION Primary features of observational public health surveillance instruments are that they are valid, can reliably estimate physical activity behaviors, and are useful across diverse geographic settings and seasons by different users. Previous studies have reported the validity and reliability of Systematic Observation of Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) to estimate park and...

Development of a Direct Observation Instrument to Measure Environmental Characteristics of Parks for Physical Activity.

BACKGROUND The study's purpose is to describe the development and evaluate the reliability (inter-observer agreement) and validity (rater agreement with a gold standard) of a direct observation instrument to assess park characteristics that may be related to physical activity. METHODS A direct observation instrument of 181 items was developed based on a conceptual model consisting of the foll...

Automated Ecological Assessment of Physical Activity: Advancing Direct Observation

Technological advances provide opportunities for automating direct observations of physical activity, which allow for continuous monitoring and feedback. This pilot study evaluated the initial validity of computer vision algorithms for ecological assessment of physical activity. The sample comprised 6630 seconds per camera (three cameras in total) of video capturing up to nine participants enga...

Contribution of public parks to physical activity.

OBJECTIVES Parks provide places for people to experience nature, engage in physical activity, and relax. We studied how residents in low-income, minority communities use public, urban neighborhood parks and how parks contribute to physical activity. METHODS In 8 public parks, we used direct observation to document the number, gender, race/ethnicity, age group, and activity level of park users...

Direct observation in high school physical education