Leading the nation to improved health and wellness through parks and recreation.
Local park and recreation agencies across the nation are working together with health care professionals, businesses, schools, nonprofit organizations, and community stakeholders to prevent and treat our nation’s most pressing health concerns. From creating more walkable and bikeable communities, to increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables, to reducing tobacco use in public parks, local park and recreation agencies are leading the way to build healthier communities.
Our green spaces, trails and greenways, recreation facilities, community centers, and playgrounds hold the key to our most widely accessible repository of national health solutions:
- Doctors are prescribing parks and public recreation programs to their patients most at risk for obesity-related illnesses.
- Communities are seeking to identify and address “play deserts” and connect residents with under-utilized recreational spaces.
- It has become more recognized that the way we design and construct our physical environments, including parks and open spaces, positively influences our health.
- Enhancing accessibility to parks and trails promotes walkable communities.
- Smoking and tobacco bans in public parks help protect the health of community members, particularly children.
The time is now to demonstrate how parks and recreation are effectively able to create healthy and prosperous communities. Watch NRPA’s President and CEO Barbara Tulipane, CAE talk about how parks and recreation can embrace leadership in health and wellness.
To learn how NRPA is promoting active living and healthy eating in communities across the country, visit Recreation and Health and check out NRPA’s recently released health and wellness resources.
Position Statement
Parks & Recreation Magazine: Health and Wellness Articles
Out of Tragedy Comes Opportunity
By Erika Lehmann, Nicole Oehmke
April 2013 Issue
Summary: How the Great Flood of 1997 helped build a wellness center
Miami Takes the Long-Range View
By Amy Kapp
March 2013 Issue
Summary: The Magic City plans for the future in their plans for developing a physically active community.
Sign and Wayfinding Project Connects the Louisville Community with Its Public Trails
By Erika Lehmann
February 2013 Issue
Summary: Louisville, Kentucky’s Metro Parks department is working with local and national partners to develop a 100-mile trail system that will encircle the city—linking parks and neighborhoods to civic and cultural attractions, and providing healthy transportation options for residents.