Ecological Momentary Assessment of Momentary Associations Between Availability of Physical Activity Space and Physical Activity Opportunities Among Children from Rural, Urban, and Suburban Locales

Using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), this study examined associations between momentary availability of physical activity (PA) space and accessibility of PA opportunities among 608 elementary and middle school students who were participating in an obesity prevention trial in one mid-Atlantic state in the U.S. Smartphones prompted EMA surveys at random times to assess children’s perceived availability of PA space and accessibility of PA opportunities during out-of-school time, three to seven times each day over seven days. Multilevel logistic regression, which accounted for multiple responses per student, examined within- and between-person relations as well as the moderating effects of locale. The participants (M age = 10.88 years) lived in suburban (64%), rural (23%), and urban locales (13%). PA space availability was associated with greater PA opportunity accessibility (within-person OR = 9.82, p < 0.001; between-person OR = 22.61, p < 0.001). Locale moderated within-person relationships (p < 0.001), indicating that urban students with space were unable to use it or could be active but were without space. These findings advance our knowledge of temporal and environmental aspects related to childhood PA across diverse locales and can be used by policymakers to make informed decisions to ensure the use of age-appropriate, high quality, and safe spaces, particularly for children in urban areas.