Physical activity in outdoor gym users in Bucaramanga, Colombia

Background

In twenty-first century, physical therapist needs to connect to the community health priorities and the public health indicators. In this context, the lifestyle health behaviours and interventions to promote health and well-being in all people are a priority.

The outdoor gyms (OG) are a recent intervention in open and public spaces, particularly in parks of countries like United States, Australia and Canada, to increase the active recreation at the community level, providing opportunities to all people to be physically active, as part of a healthy lifestyle [1]. However, the physical activity in OG users is scarce.

In Colombia, physical activity in parks, and particularly in OG, has not been evaluated before. This is the first study in Bucaramanga, an intermediate city known as ‘the city of parks’, where 49 OG had been installed until 31^st December 2015.

So far, there is little evidence on the impact of OG implementation on the level of physical activity of the citizens. Available literature has shown that OG facilities contribute to greater weight loss on their users when compared to other areas of the same park, as well as increasing the time devoted for moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) [1–3]. However, changes in the use of the parks cannot be attributed solely to the installation of the physical conditioning zones; therefore, it is necessary to determine the influence of the OG installation on levels of physical activity of the community in a more detailed manner.

Purpose

To describe the characteristics of outdoor gyms (OG), their users and their level of physical activity using an objective method in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was applied on eleven outdoor gyms (OG) installed at 10 parks from 3rd August to 11th December 2015. Direct observations of OG users were conducted using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) [4,5] that allows to classify the physical activity level of the people observed as sedentary, moderate or vigorous, as well as to register information about age and gender.

The observations were made during 11 weeks, for three weekdays and two weekend days, every hour from 6:00 am to 11:00 am and from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm, in 10 public parks with different socioeconomic status (SES) in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Observers were trained by two researchers with expertise in the use of SOPARC, reliability was assessed, and the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for measurement with SOPARC ranged between 0.78 and 0.81 for age group, and 0.79 and 0.94 for physical activity.

The variables included age, level of physical activity, period of the day and socioeconomic status (SES). Also, the quality of OG was assessed by a questionnaire M-QUAAL (Medida de Qualidade das Academias ao Ar Livre) included some characteristics of the outdoor gyms like area, equipment quantity, equipment maintenance status, and safety conditions.

Chi-square tests were used to examine bivariate associations between OG-based physical activity and the characteristics of its users.

Results

The area of the OG varied from 97.3 to 256.8 m², mean 169.7 ± 42.9 m², representing a range of 2.6–13.4% of area for physical activity, and a range of 0.6–4.3% of total park area. At the OG area, 81.8% had visible information about physical activity guidance and 27.3% had rules of usage. Also, 81.9% had leaves on the floor, 63.6% had garbage, 54.6% had signs of vandalism, and 36.4% had pet waste. Sixteen types of equipment were registered; the principal problems observed were cleaning (54.5%) and painting (80%). Safety conditions against crimes showed 100% has illumination and only 45.5% have on-site police.

A total of 6.722 people were observed during 3.278 observation visits. More women than men were observed in OG (51.7% vs. 48.3%) as well as more adults (61.5%) and children (19.8%). Women were associated with more moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in OG (women = 53.5% vs. men = 46.5%). More women visited the OG in the morning and practiced MVPA (55.3% vs. 44.8%).

We also find statistically statistically significant differences in the performance of MVPA with the period of the day, being the morning session the time when the largest number of people performed MVPA, which could be explained by a lower temperature in the morning. Neither the comparison by age or socioeconomic status (SES) showed significant differences. However, at all times of the day the OGs were more used by adults. Older adults preferred to use them in the morning and children in the afternoon and evening.

Conclusions

The provision of OG in public spaces like parks, is a good investment option for increasing PA levels of people in Bucaramanga, especially for women that usually show a low level of PA compared to men. In addition, OG can be a good strategy for women to increase their level of physical activity and contribute to increase compliance with the weekly physical activity recommendations that generate health benefits.

On the other hand, in the city there are OG only for adults, the installation of OG for children could be a strategy that promotes physical activity in public spaces for the whole family.

Implications

The importance of promoting the maintenance of the OG, preserving the equipment in optimum conditions, and enhancing security conditions inside and outside the OG could be areas of intervention by a physical therapist, in order to stimulate healthy lifestyles at the community level.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS).

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the students and professionals that made part of the team, and the participants that accepted to answer the survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by Colombian Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, “COLCIENCIAS”.