An eight-year longitudinal study of 3,173 children from 12 communities in Southern California suggests that if all children had commensurate access to parkland and recreation programs near their homes, over 9.5% of boys and 8.3% of girls would move from being overweight to being normal weight, and 2.6% of boys and 2.1% of girls would move from being obese to being merely overweight.
Berhane, Kiros, Brady, Kirby, Chang, Roger, Dahmann, Nicholas, Gilliland, Frank, Jerrett, Michael, McConnell, Rob, Reynolds, Kim, Su, Jason G., Wolch, Jennifer. (2011) Childhood obesity and proximity to urban parks and recreational resources: A longitudinal cohort study. Health & Place 17, 207-214.
