Adult playgrounds fight obesity
Mom, Dad, This Playground’s for You
Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times
GROWN-UPS New York City installed an adult playground at Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx.
...New York City is testing its first such playground in Macombs Dam Park
in the Bronx, and plans to bring as many as two dozen more to
neighborhoods across the five boroughs in the next 18 months, park
officials said.
The goal is to lure people off their couches and into the outdoors with
specially designed playground equipment — in grown-up shades like forest
green and beige — that recall the joy of childhood play while
tightening up flabby abs, thighs and triceps.
Though there are no swings or slides — these are essentially outdoor
gyms — such playgrounds not only have the look of traditional children’s
play spaces, but they are also built in some cases by the same
manufacturers.
The adult playground concept is borrowed from China and parts of Europe,
where outdoor fitness areas for adults have become as routine as
high-fiber diets or vitamin D supplements in preventive care,
particularly for older people.
