Urban Youth Sports
Health Connection

Project Director:
Linda Keefe

Youth Sports Health Coordinator:
Linda Keefe
(Mattapan Community
Health Center)

Youth Sports Health Coordinator:
Linda Keefe
(Brookside Community
Health Center,
Jamaica Plain)

Youth Sports Health Coordinator:
Julie Vanier
(Bowdoin Street Community
Health Center, Dorcester)

Play Across Boston

Project Director:
Alfreda Harris

Research Director:
Cindy Hannon

(617) 373-4025

A Partnership between the Harvard Prevention Research Center
and Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society

BOSTON, MA � Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has announced the results of Play Across Boston, a three-year study of physical activity and sports resources for city youth, and called the report a "playbook" for future sports and recreation planning by the City of Boston and its partners. Conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health in collaboration with Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, Play Across Boston highlights the city's strengths and shortcomings and provides recommendations for future improvement and planning.

"For several years we have only had anecdotal information about the need to get more of Boston's young people involved in physical activity. Play Across Boston gives us scientific evidence that we have more work to do," said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "National studies tell us that young people are more inactive than ever and obesity and other physical problems are on the rise. In a time of economic uncertainty, Play Across Boston will help us plan for the future and prioritize resources while protecting the health of our young people."

Researchers completed a comprehensive citywide assessment of young people in kindergarten through 12th grade and their involvement in physical activity. Report authors made 226 visits to public parks and recreation facilities and collected data from 235 sports and physical activity programs. They also conducted comparisons to three communities inside the 128 belt representing varied income levels. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded the study.

"This collaborative effort represents a critical step toward improving the health and well being of children through sport and physical activity," said State Representative Kevin Fitzgerald, Director of Sport in Society's Urban Youth Sports program. "It speaks directly to the mission and values of Northeastern University's Sport in Society by breaking down barriers to participation, promoting teamwork and citizenship, and raising awareness of the positive benefits of sport for our young people."

Steve Gortmaker of the Harvard Prevention Research Center, said "The report represents more than three years of hard work by a broad range of community-based organizations, individuals and institutions, and is the first comprehensive assessment of its kind in the U.S. Moreover, the process is replicable, meaning we have a clearly defined method for assessing progress in the future."

For more information contact Kevin Matthews at 617-373-4256 or Kevin Myron at the Harvard School of Public Health at (617)-432-3952