Park environmental characteristics systematically promote children's physical and mental health through differentiated mechanisms, with physical health driven by stress mitigation and activity support (14 significant indicators, β = 0.105–0.227) and mental health relying more on restorative experiences and human-nature interactions (9 significant indicators, β = 0.139–0.380).
Fourteen environmental indicators significantly affect children's physical health in urban parks.
Nine environmental indicators significantly enhance children's mental health in urban parks.
Physical and mental health outcomes in children are driven by differentiated environmental mechanisms within parks.
A six-dimension framework was constructed to evaluate park environmental characteristics in relation to child health.
The study proposes practical optimization strategies for child-friendly park design in high-density urban contexts.
This research suggests that specific features of urban parks can meaningfully affect children's physical and mental health in distinct ways. The study, conducted in Dazhou City, China, evaluated parks across six categories—safety, accessibility, comfort, playability, naturalness, and inclusiveness—and found that 14 environmental features were linked to better physical health, while 9 features were linked to better mental health. Physical health benefits appeared to come mainly from things like noise reduction, diverse play equipment, and accessible design, while mental health benefits came more from opportunities to interact with nature, wildlife habitats, and visually varied seasonal landscapes. The research also reveals that the pathways to physical versus mental health improvement are fundamentally different. Physical health in children appears to benefit most from environments that reduce stress and support active movement, while mental health benefits more from experiences that restore attention and foster emotional connections with the natural world. Notably, the mental health indicators showed stronger associations (up to β = 0.380) compared to physical health indicators (up to β = 0.227), suggesting that thoughtfully designed nature-rich park spaces may be especially powerful for children's psychological wellbeing. This research suggests that city planners and park designers should consider these differentiated needs when developing or renovating urban parks, particularly in dense city environments. Rather than treating parks as generic recreational spaces, evidence-based design that intentionally incorporates noise control, varied facilities, accessible pathways, wildlife-friendly features, and seasonal plantings could systematically support children's overall health. The authors propose cultural integration and targeted small-scale renovations as practical strategies that cities can implement to make parks more child-friendly.
Zhu L, Wu L, Xu X, Hu X, Su Y. (2026). Linking park environmental characteristics to child health outcomes: towards an evidence-based child-friendly design framework.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1795835