The practice of physical activity mediated by the geographical environment: accessibility barriers

• Autor(a) principal: Lima, Dartel Ferrari
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Lima, Lohran Anguera, Hoffmann, Bruno Henrique, Strey, Rafael Eduardo, Anguera, Maria das Graças
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Caderno de Educação Física e Esporte
• Texto Completo: https://e-revista.unioeste.br/index.php/cadernoedfisica/article/view/22712
• topic: Meio Ambiente; Promoção da Saúde; Qualidade de Vida; Exercício; Parques Recreativos.; Environment; Health Promotion; Quality of Life; Exercise; Parks; Recreational

OBJECTIVE: Identifying access characteristics of users to public spaces for the practice of physical activity (PA), as well as to describe the different types of PA located in these spaces, in particular, walking and running, considering the location and accessibility to the facilities. METHODS: A descriptive study which gathered cross-sectional research data that explored, with the same methodology, aspects related to accessibility to public facilities appropriate to the practice of PA, in medium and small cities located in the West of Paraná (Brazil). RESULTS: Ninety-eight participants of both genders were interviewed; the walk was the option of 50% of the interviewees; 65% were active moving to the activity places, 76% of whom did it on foot; the access to the facilities was predominantly passive for residents 2 km or more away, and 80% of respondents were residing up to 2 km away from the facilities. CONCLUSION: The lack of perception of the potentiality of possible spaces for the practice of PA constitutes an obstacle to the adhesion to recreational PA. This approach emphasizes the importance of the spaces’ territorial contextualization, once the relationship between PA and urban space is not restricted to the sites specifically directed to the practice of PA, but also to its accessibility.