Assessing physical activity barriers and facilitators among Latinos/as: Qualitative findings from a citizen science pilot study in a Los Angeles park

Though underutilized, urban parks are important locations for physical activity (PA), and improving them is a proven strategy to increase PA levels in surrounding communities. The proportion of the US Latino/a population meeting PA guidelines is low, but little attention has been paid to what physical environmental factors make it easier or more difficult for this population to engage in PA nor how acculturation may influence those perceptions. We conducted a first-generation exploratory investigation utilizing the Our Voice citizen science method at Hazard Recreation Center-located within a primarily Latino/a, lower-income neighborhood in east Los Angeles (LA)-to better understand the role of built environment perceptions on PA in this population. Multigenerational Latino/a citizen scientists (N = 32) collected geo-tagged photos and comments in their preferred language (416 photos total) during walk audits in summer 2024, which were analyzed using content analysis. To elucidate differences by acculturation, the proportion of comments on each topic was compared between the English- and Spanish-speaking groups using Fisher's exact test. These analyses revealed sidewalks and surfaces, play areas, and landscaping as the most common topics raised among all of the entries. Moreover, a significant difference in the counts of the identified themes was found between the English- and Spanish-language groups. Findings provide initial insights about the influence of the physical environment on PA and park utilization among Latino/a people-including the possible role of acculturation on individual perceptions-and will help to inform future larger-scale studies aimed at identifying ways to both identify and improve PA-supportive park environments in these under-resourced communities.