Associations between the Physical, Sociocultural, and Safety Environments and Active Transportation to School

Children's active school transportation: an international scoping review of psychosocial factors

BACKGROUND

Over the last decades, the prevalence of AST has decreased significantly. Barriers to active school transport (AST) have been extensively examined in the literature, while psychosocial factors that facilitate AST have received less attention. To our best knowledge, there are currently no reviews on this subject. Therefore, the objective of this review was to scope the literature and identify published research about psychosocial factors related to AST.

METHODS

Systematic searches conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, TRID, Scopus, and ERIC resulted in a total of 1933 publications, and 77 of them were considered eligible for this review.

RESULTS

The results of the included articles were categorised into four psychosocial factors: confidence in ability, attitudes, social support, and social norms, which were all generally positively related to AST, with a few exceptions.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this review indicate that these psychosocial factors may be important to consider when developing interventions and highlight that both children and parents should be involved in the process. This knowledge can serve as a valuable guide for developing interventions to promote AST. However, the evidence base supporting these psychosocial factors requires further investigation to fully understand how and when to incorporate them to maximise AST efficacy.

Active commuting to school: A longitudinal analysis examining persistence of behavior over time in four New Jersey cities

Evidence suggests that healthy behaviors initiated during childhood may continue over time. The objective of this study was to determine whether active commuting to/from school (ACS) at baseline predicted continued ACS at follow-up two to five years later.

Two cohorts of households with 3–15 year-olds in four low-income New Jersey cities were randomly sampled and followed for two to five year periods between 2009 and 2017. Children who walked, bicycled, or skateboarded to/from school at least one day/week were classified as active commuters. Children with complete data at both time points were included in this analysis (n = 383). Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between ACS at T1 and T2. Models adjusted for child age, sex, and race/ethnicity; parent’s education and nativity status (native-born vs foreign-born); household poverty level; car availability; neighborhood level characteristics; and distance from home to school.

Children who engaged in ACS at T1 had over seven times the odds of ACS at T2 compared to children who did not actively commute at T1 (p < 0.001), after adjusting for distance to school and other relevant covariates. Distance, regardless of active commuting status at T1 was inversely associated with active commuting at T2.

Policies and interventions encouraging ACS, and those that decrease the distance between a child’s home and school, may result in increased, habitual active commuting and physical activity behavior throughout childhood and possibly into adulthood.

Predictors of Active Transportation Among Safe Routes to School Participants in Arizona: Impacts of Distance and Income

BACKGROUND

Active transportation to school (ATS) is a component of a whole school approach to health promotion among youth.

METHODS

Individual- and school-level predictors of ATS were examined using data from parent surveys (N = 11,100) of students in grades 3-8 attending 112 schools in Arizona (United States) administering Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs between 2007 and 2018. Multilevel logistic models were estimated to predict the likelihood of students using active (walking or biking) versus inactive travel (riding bus or car) to and from school, and across distance and school-level income categories.

RESULTS

Student grade, parent education, asking permission to use ATS, perceived health and school support for ATS, distance, and school income were predictive of ATS. The impact of demographic factors persisted across distances of ½ mile or less and at low- and medium-income schools but diminished as distance and income increased. Asking permission and perceived school support persisted across levels of distance and income, while perceiving ATS as healthy was significant only for distances under 1 mile.

CONCLUSIONS

SRTS programs should continue promoting health benefits and school support for ATS. SRTS may be particularly effective at low- and medium-income schools and among families living within ½ mile distances.

Climate Change and Health of Children: Our Borrowed Future

Children are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of physiological, developmental, behavioral, and social factors. In addition, they are likely to bear the consequences of these impacts over their life course. This paper reviews the health impacts of climate change on children's health, highlights specific vulnerabilities and offers recommendations to pediatric health care professionals for mitigation, adaptation, policy, and personal interventions to address our changing climate. Health care professionals can help families in mitigation and adaptation strategies to reduce their risk from climate change.

What Parental Correlates Predict Children's Active Transportation to School in the Southeast United States?

BACKGROUND

School-aged children in the Southeast, compared with other United States of America (US) regions, have significantly lower levels of active transportation to school (ATS). The purpose of this study was to contrast the parental correlates of ATS choice specific to the Southeast with other areas of the US.

METHODS

This study utilized national data from 2952 households with school-aged children located within a 20-minute walk to a school. Parents reported their children's ATS behavior and their own ATS beliefs and perceptions. Logistic regression contrasted correlates of parents from the Southeast with other regions.

RESULTS

Parents in the Southeast, compared with parents across the US, were significantly less likely to allow their child to take ATS (12.9% vs 33.3%, respectively) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.36-0.59). Specific to the Southeast, parental correlates linked to increases in ATS were Black race/ethnicity (OR = 1.68; 95% CI, 1.31-2.60), being single, (OR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.15-2.54), and any parental physical activity (P value for trend = .0053). The only correlate associated with a decrease in ATS in the Southeast was heightened safety concerns (eg, traffic speed, safe crossings) (OR = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.23-0.84).

CONCLUSIONS

Among households with children in the Southeast, ATS interventions that allay parental safety concerns and that promote physical activity among parents might lead to increases in ATS.

Active or Passive Commuter? Discrepancies in Cut-off Criteria among Adolescents

Active commuting to school has health implications for young people. Previous research has shown the need to consistently define the concept of “active commuter”, given that assessment as well as comparison between studies may be hindered by current discrepancies in frequency criteria. Using a sample of 158 Spanish students (12th–13th grade, 60.8% girls), the current study aimed to compare several cut-off criteria to rigorously identify the frequency of weekly active trips to school in order to categorize adolescents as active or passive commuters, and to analyze whether the threshold living distance to school is associated with the different trip cut-off criteria. Percentages of active commuters ranged from 75% to 88.6%, varying significantly depending on the cut-off criteria (5–10 active trips/week) used. The results also support the need to be stricter in the selection of a cut-off criterion when the distance to the school becomes shorter. Our findings highlight the importance of following a standard criterion to classify individuals as active or passive commuters, considering the characteristics of the context in which each study is conducted.

Assessment of direct and indirect associations between children active school travel and environmental, household and child factors using structural equation modelling

BACKGROUND

Active school travel (AST) is influenced by multiple factors including built and social environments, households and individual variables. A holistic theory such as Mitra's Behavioural Model of School Transportation (BMST) is vital to comprehensively understand these complex interrelationships. This study aimed to assess direct and indirect associations between children's AST and environmental, household and child factors based on the BMST using structural equation modelling (SEM).

METHODS

Data were drawn from Neighbourhoods for Active Kids (NfAK), a cross-sectional study of 1102 children aged 8-13 years (school years 5-8) and their parents from nine intermediate and 10 primary schools in Auckland, New Zealand between February 2015 and December 2016. Data were collected using an online participatory mapping survey (softGIS) with children, a computer-assisted telephone interviewing survey (CATI) with parents, and ArcGIS for built environment attributes. Based on the BMST a conceptual model of children's school travel behaviour was specified for SEM analyses ('hypothesised SEM'), and model modification was made to improve the model ('modified SEM'). SEM analyses using Mplus were performed to test the hypothesised/modified SEM and to assess direct and indirect relationships among variables.

RESULTS

The overall fit of the modified SEM was acceptable (N = 542; Root mean square error of approximation = 0.04, Comparative fit index = 0.94, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.92). AST was positively associated with child independent mobility, child-perceived neighbourhood safety, and parent-perceived importance of social interaction and neighbourhood social environment. Distance to school, and parental perceptions of convenience and concerns about traffic safety were negatively associated with AST. Parental fears of stranger danger were indirectly related to AST through those of traffic safety. Distance to school and child independent mobility mediated relationships between AST and child school year and sex.

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing children's AST requires action on multiple fronts including communities that support independent mobility by providing child friendly social and built environments, safety from traffic, and policies that promote local schools and safe vehicle-free zones around school.

Active Transportation: The Role of Parent Attitude, The Physical Environment, and Social Capital

BACKGROUND

Despite recommendation and confirmed physical activity benefits, participation in active transportation to school (ATS) has continued to decline. This study's purpose was to create and test a model of ATS that is directly explained by the constructs of parent attitude, the physical environment, and social capital controlling for age and gender.

METHODS

Participants were parents (N = 248) of children at 6 elementary and 2 middle schools in 1 district in the Southwestern United States. The survey included previously validated behavior, environmental, attitude, and social items (eg, Safe Routes to School Parent Survey/U.S. General Social Survey). Structural equation modeling was used to test the fit of the model and whether parent attitude, the physical environment, and social capital were associated with active transportation.

RESULTS

An adjusted measurement model was a good fit for the data. The physical environment (β = 0.391; P < .01) as well as parent attitude (β = 0.535; P < .001) were positively associated with ATS.

CONCLUSION

This study supports a model of ATS, affirming that parent attitude, the physical environment, and social capital are effective constructs from which to conceptualize associations with walking and biking to school.