THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF PARKS AND THEIR ECONOMIC IMPACTS 11 Some studies have found a connection between access to leisure time and perceived neighborhood safety and physical activity in park spaces (Eichinger et al 2015). However, other research has found no direct connection between perceived or objective measures of crime and physical activity in parks (Ries et al. 2009; Zhang et al. 2019). This suggests that additional evidence is needed to understand the connection of neighborhood conditions and physical activity in parks. Physical Activity and Health Outcomes Research on the connection between physical activity and health has consistently found strong positive associations. Physical activity is correlated with a range of impacts on cardiovascular health, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and reduced risk of mortality because of disease (Myers et al. 2004; Warburton, Nicol, and Bredin 2006). Physical activity has been shown to reduce risk of mortality from all causes among men, women, and the elderly (Bijnen 1999; Myers et al. 2002; Oguma and Shinoda-Tagawa 2004). In one study of exercise habits in men, tests associated exercise with a 50 percent reduction in risk for cardiovascular disease (Myers et al. 2004). For those with existing cardiovascular disease, activity has been shown to reduce or attenuate effects of the disease (Warburton, Nicol, and Bredin 2006). Physical activity has been shown to affect several additional health outcomes, including reductions in incidence of type 2 diabetes, with particularly strong impacts among those at highest risk (Helmrich, Ragland, and Paffenbarger 1994; Manson et al. 1992). One study associated moderate exercise with a reduction in diabetes incidence of 40 to 60 percent over three to four years for high-risk populations (Williamson, Vinicor, and Bowman 2004). Physical activity has similar effects on cancer incidence, particularly colon cancer, which is associated with a 30 to 40 percent reduction, and breast cancer, which is associated with a 20 to 30 percent reduction (Kampert et al. 1996; Lee 2003; Sternfield et al. 2009) Just as physical activity conveys several health benefits, inactivity is associated with several negative health outcomes. A number of estimations at the national level and across countries have suggested the costs of physical inactivity are significant and include increased rates of noncommunicable disease and corresponding health care costs and lost life years (ISCA and CEBR 2015).
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTkzMzk=