AJC Community Voices: Rodney Lyn, Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University

Sad news last week that the City of Atlanta is closing 22 of its 33 recreation centers. Here's a letter in response from Rodney Lyn, a faculty member from the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University.

http://www.ajc.com/printedition/content/printedition/2008/12/06/lyned.html
Closing rec centers costs more in the long run
By Rodney Lyn
For the Journal-Constitution
Saturday, December 06, 2008

When concern is growing about epidemic levels of obesity and its related chronic diseases —- heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure —- the announcement that 22 City of Atlanta recreations will be closed is disheartening.

These facilities directly affect the health and wellness of Atlanta’s citizens.

Critical to preventing heart disease and stroke —- the first and third leading causes of death in Georgia —- are adequate physical activity and weight control.

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association recommend 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise most days. According to the Georgia Division of Public Health’s 2008 report, only two in five Georgians are physically active.

Recently, the AJC reported, Georgia ranked 41 out of 50 states in the United Health Foundation’s annual overall health ranking. This was due, in part, to the staggering rise in the percent of obese Georgians from 11 to 29 percent in the last 20 years. The economic impact of obesity in Georgia in 2003 was about $2.1 billion dollars.

Safe, well-equipped neighborhood parks and recreational facilities are key links to increased physical activity and higher levels of walking. Atlanta recreational facilities also assist in efforts to combat the childhood obesity epidemic. Only 35 percent of middle school students and 36 percent of high school students attend daily physical education classes.

These centers run after-school programs that provide organized physical activity and outdoor play minutes from home. These opportunities keep our youth engaged in constructive, health promoting activities during after-school hours when adult supervision is often patchy.

Moreover, the inequities and inaccessibility of parks and recreational facilities in low-income neighborhoods has long been a topic among health disparity experts.

A good number of the facilities closing will inevitably be serving low-income communities that can least afford to lose the services. These are traditionally areas with a high population of African-American and Hispanic residents at high risk for chronic diseases. For Atlanta residents who do not live near an open recreation center, can’t afford a health club membership, and live in a neighborhood that is not conducive to safe outdoor activities, getting the physical activity they need will be far from easy.

Recognition of the significant role parks and recreational facilities play in promoting physical activity and cardiovascular health should be a catalyst for examining strategies for minimizing cuts to recreational facilities and ensuring they have support in the future.

> Rodney Lyn, an American Heart Association volunteer, is a faculty member in the College of Health and Human Services and the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University.