Chapter 10: The King County Play Equity Coalition: Focusing on Increasing Youth Physical Activity Through School-University-Community Collaboration

Childhood physical inactivity is a global health crisis. In King County, Washington—a county with a growing immigrant population—only 11% of youth who do not speak English at home are meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation of 60 minutes of daily physical activity; this compares with a county average of 19% and a national average of 24%. Barriers to physical activity for this population include cost, transportation, cultural insensitivity, and lack of physical activity opportunities at school. Guided by findings and recommendations from research conducted at the University of Washington, a new coalition of municipal, school, business, and community nonprofit partners are coming together to increase rates of physical activity in King County with particular attention to increasing access and opportunities for immigrant youth and families through school-based interventions.