Communities across the country suffer from insufficient physical activity and a lack of access to physical activity opportunities. Shared use can be a simple solution to increase physical activity in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.
Why is shared use important for community health? When children and adults don’t get enough physical activity, it can lead to poor health, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian communities are adversely affected by the lack of access to physical activity opportunities in their neighborhoods. Filipinos are 70 percent more likely to be obese compared to the overall Asian populations. Additionally, overweight and obesity are higher among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. Physical inactivity increases risk of many adverse conditions, and overall, Asian Americans are 1.2 times more likely than white Americans to fail to meet federal physical activity guidelines. More than half of the Asian American Pacific Islander population is inactive (52.5 percent), compared to 44.1 percent of the white population. Levels of inactivity are even higher for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
