After writing about natural water slides and active play for the family, my wife pointed out studies from Kansas and Michigan linking increased levels of fitness with improved academic performance.
She also shared a great blog post on increasing physical activity and movement in school as a way to help address attention issues including ADHD. That got me thinking about the increasing prevalence of ADHD and whether there could be a negative correlation between the prevalence of water parks and prevalence of ADHD (more water parks, less ADHD). Sadly no link exists.
Fortunately for kids with (and without) school attention issues, summer vacation has finally arrived, and along with it, prime water park season. With over 1300 water parks right here in the US, a little water fun isn't far away; but lucky people from these states will see fewer people in front of them in line meaning more activity and less fidgeting in line.
The Top 5 States for Water Parks
| State | Water Parks Per Million People |
| South Dakota | 16.4 |
| Missouri | 16.3 |
| Kansas | 12.4 |
| Wisconsin | 9.4 |
| Colorado | 8.8 |
Missouri also ranks in the top 5 for total water parks (only edged out by Florida and California). Perhaps Missouri should consider a new nickname: The Slide State. Of course Kansas is also trying to overachieve with Verrückt—currently the tallest water slide in the world. Interior states taking the top rankings does make a bit of sense given park owners are actually trying to create water slide experiences that are better than the ocean (good luck with that).
If you’re not lucky enough to live in a state with a lot of water parks (I’m looking at you Connecticut, New Mexico, Louisiana) you might consider putting a water slide in your own back yard; and if you’d like to see how your state ranks for water parks, I’ve included the full list is below. Now back to my analysis. Perhaps I should try to find a correlation between home water slides and smiles per capita...
| State | Water Park Count | Population est. July '14 | Youth with ADHD | Water Parks Per Million People |
| South Dakota | 14 | 853,175 | 7.4 | 16.4 |
| Missouri | 99 | 6,063,589 | 8.4 | 16.3 |
| Kansas | 36 | 2,904,021 | 9.5 | 12.4 |
| Wisconsin | 54 | 5,757,564 | 10.4 | 9.4 |
| Colorado | 47 | 5,355,866 | 5.6 | 8.8 |
| Minnesota | 44 | 5,457,173 | 9.7 | 8.1 |
| Iowa | 25 | 3,107,126 | 11.5 | 8.0 |
| Montana | 8 | 1,023,579 | 9.1 | 7.8 |
| Rhode Island | 8 | 1,055,173 | 11.1 | 7.6 |
| Delaware | 6 | 935,614 | 11.7 | 6.4 |
| Nebraska | 12 | 1,881,503 | 8.1 | 6.4 |
| Arizona | 41 | 6,731,484 | 8.2 | 6.1 |
| Ohio | 65 | 11,594,163 | 11.6 | 5.6 |
| Idaho | 9 | 1,634,464 | 6.7 | 5.5 |
| North Dakota | 4 | 739,482 | 8.9 | 5.4 |
| New Hampshire | 7 | 1,326,813 | 10.1 | 5.3 |
| Florida | 103 | 19,893,297 | 8.5 | 5.2 |
| Illinois | 66 | 12,880,580 | 7.2 | 5.1 |
| South Carolina | 24 | 4,832,482 | 11.7 | 5.0 |
| Kentucky | 21 | 4,413,457 | 14.8 | 4.8 |
| Utah | 14 | 2,942,902 | 5.8 | 4.8 |
| Maine | 6 | 1,330,089 | 10.1 | 4.5 |
| Nevada | 12 | 2,839,099 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Virginia | 33 | 8,326,289 | 9.1 | 4.0 |
| Indiana | 26 | 6,596,855 | 13 | 3.9 |
| Pennsylvania | 49 | 12,787,209 | 9.3 | 3.8 |
| Michigan | 37 | 9,909,877 | 11.2 | 3.7 |
| Wyoming | 2 | 584,153 | 7.2 | 3.4 |
| Arkansas | 10 | 2,966,369 | 14.6 | 3.4 |
| Texas | 89 | 26,956,958 | 9 | 3.3 |
| West Virginia | 6 | 1,850,326 | 9.9 | 3.2 |
| Oklahoma | 12 | 3,878,051 | 9.9 | 3.1 |
| Oregon | 12 | 3,970,239 | 7.9 | 3.0 |
| New Jersey | 26 | 8,938,175 | 5.5 | 2.9 |
| Georgia | 29 | 10,097,343 | 9.3 | 2.9 |
| Washington | 20 | 7,061,530 | 8 | 2.8 |
| Mississippi | 8 | 2,994,079 | 10.9 | 2.7 |
| California | 102 | 38,802,500 | 5.9 | 2.6 |
| Massachusetts | 17 | 6,745,408 | 9.6 | 2.5 |
| North Carolina | 25 | 9,943,964 | 11.6 | 2.5 |
| Maryland | 15 | 5,976,407 | 8.9 | 2.5 |
| Alabama | 10 | 4,849,377 | 10.6 | 2.1 |
| Tennessee | 13 | 6,549,352 | 11.1 | 2.0 |
| New York | 38 | 19,746,227 | 7.7 | 1.9 |
| Vermont | 1 | 626,562 | 9.4 | 1.6 |
| Alaska | 1 | 736,732 | 6 | 1.4 |
| Louisiana | 6 | 4,649,676 | 13.3 | 1.3 |
| New Mexico | 2 | 2,085,572 | 6.2 | 1.0 |
| Connecticut | 3 | 3,596,677 | 7.6 | 0.8 |
| Hawaii | 1 | 1,419,561 | 6 | 0.7 |