Table 1.
Characteristics of participants
| Overall | Male | Female | P* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (n = 99, mean [SD]) | 13.3 [±0.87] | 14.28 (±0.86) | 14.33 (±0.91) | ns |
| Sex (n = 97, %) | - | 47.4 | 52.6 | |
| School attended (n = 97, %) | ||||
| Low SES | 26.3 | 23.9 | 29.4 | 0.018 |
| Mid SES | 34.3 | 23.9 | 45.1 | |
| High SES | 39.4 | 52.2 | 25.5 | |
| Usual frequency of park visit in the past 3 months (n = 97, %) | ||||
| ≥ Once per week | 38.5 | 45.6 | 29.4 | ns |
| 2–3 times per month | 16.2 | 13.0 | 19.6 | |
| ≤ Once per month | 33.4 | 28.2 | 39.2 | |
| Have not visited a park in the past 3 months | 12.1 | 13.0 | 11.8 | |
| Usual duration of park visit in the past 3 months (n = 81, %) | ||||
| < 30 min | 16.0 | 16.2 | 16.7 | ns |
| 30–59 min | 37.0 | 32.4 | 40.5 | |
| 1 to <2 h | 34.6 | 45.9 | 23.8 | |
| 2 or more hours | 12.3 | 5.4 | 19.1 | |
| Usual accompaniment (n = 97, %)a | ||||
| Alone | 12.1 | 10.9 | 13.7 | ns |
| Adult family members | 30.3 | 28.3 | 31.4 | |
| Brothers or sisters | 27.3 | 21.7 | 33.3 | |
| Friends | 43.4 | 43.5 | 45.1 | |
| Organised group | 12.1 | 17.4 | 5.9 | |
| Dog | 23.2 | 19.6 | 23.5 | |
| Other | 5.1 | 2.2 | 7.8 | |
| Time taken to walk from home to nearest park (n = 84, %) | ||||
| 1–5 mins | 47.7 | 46.2 | 48.9 | ns |
| 6–10 mins | 25.6 | 23.1 | 26.7 | |
| 11–20 mins | 17.4 | 23.1 | 13.3 | |
| 21+ mins | 4.7 | 2.6 | 6.6 | |
| Don’t know | 4.7 | 5.1 | 4.4 | |
| Time taken to walk from home to park visited most often (n = 81, %) | ||||
| 1–5 mins | 28.9 | 26.3 | 30.2 | ns |
| 6–10 mins | 20.5 | 21.1 | 20.9 | |
| 11–20 mins | 20.5 | 21.1 | 20.9 | |
| 21+ mins | 16.8 | 18.5 | 14.0 | |
| Don’t know | 13.3 | 13.2 | 14.0 | |
| Dog ownership (n = 82, %) | 52.4 | 44.7 | 56.8 | ns |
aMultiple responses allowed *Chi-square tests of independence used to compare characteristics between males and females; ns denotes not significant