Children's Use of the Built Environment for Physical Activity

Use of the Built Environment to Promote Physical Activity in Children.

The study aims are to develop and test the feasibility of a pediatric physical activity intervention that incorporates personal information on use of the built environment, and test the intervention's preliminary efficacy at increasing physical activity. The investigators hypothesize that it will be feasible to incorporate and measure changes in empiric GIS (geographic information system), GPS (global positioning system), and accelerometer feedback in the office setting as demonstrated by: i) Completeness of GPS and accelerometer data collection (primary measure of feasibility), ii) Participation rates among adolescents in the intervention group compared to the control group, and iii) Acceptability to patients as measured by adolescent satisfaction.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adolescents ages 10-16 years
• BMI > 85th percentile for age and sex

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physical conditions impairing ambulation
• Adolescents who do not speak English
• Adolescents who have missed more than 2 scheduled doctor's appointments during the past 5 years
• Adolescents who are receiving any other form of physical activity counseling/intervention at the time of enrollment