I am interested in exploring the lack of areas for physical activity in the Woodland Hills area. There is great weather in this part of the country, but the parks remain relatively empty. There are a ton of parks with fields of open grass, but no programs for the kids to exert all of the energy they have. Even without the programs I rarely see kids out their playing with friends or parents. Other issues are then brought up like why are we wasting resources like money and water to keep these parks in good shape. There are multiple big parks within the Woodland Hills and West Hills area that remain vacant.
The child obesity rate for certain cities in Los Angeles County reaches as high as 34% according to a study by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Without programs to encourage kids to stay active these numbers will increase. Child obesity has links to future problems for these kids like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke according to the same study. Especially with the time and money this city has spent to refurbish the parks, its important to do everything possible to get kids out using them.
To answer all these curiosities I am going to talk to a neighborhood council official. I am going to ask about the funding for these parks and if there are any future plans to get programs for kids into these parks. I also want to talk to local parents. I want to see how much physical activity their kids get and where they go to get it. Finally, I want to go to the coaches of the local youth sports leagues and see where they are taking their kids to practice, if they can use their own facilities whenever they need to and if they have ever considered using one of these newly refurbished parks.
