Research article
Personal, Family, Social, and Environmental Correlates of Active Commuting to School

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2005.08.047Get rights and content

Background

Active commuting to school may be an important opportunity for children to accumulate adequate physical activity for improved cardiovascular risk factors, enhanced bone health, and psychosocial well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine personal, family, social, and environmental correlates of active commuting to school among children.

Methods

Cross-sectional study of 235 children aged 5 to 6 years and 677 children aged 10 to 12 years from 19 elementary schools in Melbourne, Australia. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by parents, and the older children. The shortest possible routes to school were examined using a geographic information system.

Results

Among both age groups, negative correlates of active commuting to school included parental perception of few other children in the neighborhood and no lights or crossings for their child to use, and an objectively assessed busy road barrier en route to school. In younger children, an objectively assessed steep incline en route to school was negatively associated with walking or cycling to school. Good connectivity en route to school was negatively associated with walking or cycling to school among older children. Among both age groups, children were more likely to actively commute to school if their route was <800 meters. There were no associations with perceived energy levels or enjoyment of physical activity, weight status, or family factors.

Conclusions

For children, creating child-friendly communities and providing skills to safely negotiate the environment may be important. Environmental correlates of active transport in children and adults may differ and warrant further investigation.

Introduction

Physical inactivity is a major contributor to the burden of disease.1 Among children, physical activity is associated with improved cardiovascular risk factors, enhanced bone health, and psychosocial well-being.2, 3, 4 There is growing interest in active commuting as a means of increasing children’s physical activity.5 Children who walk to school have higher energy expenditure,6 perform more physical activity,7 and are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines8 than children who travel to school by motorized transport, although one study found no impact on total activity among children aged 5 years.9 Nevertheless, the proportion of children actively commuting to school has decreased in many nations.10, 11, 12, 13

Consistent with social ecology theory,14 personal, family, social, and physical environment factors are likely to influence children’s travel behavior. However, few studies have examined multiple influences concurrently. Existing research suggests that car ownership and attending private schools are associated with lower odds of walking15, 16 and a higher likelihood of car travel17 to school. Other studies have found that children who report that their parents are worried about abduction/molestation or traffic danger and who do not allow them to go out without an adult are more likely than others to be driven to school,17 while adolescents who report that there is never an adult at home after school, are more likely to walk/cycle to school.18 Further, parental perceptions of the need to cross several roads to reach play areas, and lack of traffic lights or crossings are negatively associated with children regularly walking or cycling to local destinations, including school.19 While population density, street connectivity, and mixed land use are associated with walking for transportation among adults,20 in one of few studies that targeted children and included objective measures, active commuting to school was positively associated with population density, not associated with connectivity, and negatively associated school size.21 Further, objectively measured terrain has not been examined among children despite its association with recreational walking among adults.22

Current efforts to support active school journeys require data on correlates of active commuting to school to inform program development. Existing data mainly examine self- or proxy-reported personal correlates. The influences on children’s mode of travel to school are likely to be broader, also encompassing the social and physical environment. The present study examined personal, family, social, and environmental correlates of children’s active commuting to school using self-report and objective measures.

Section snippets

Methods

Data were collected from families of 5- to 6-year-old and 10- to 12-year-old children, representing elementary school entry and exit ages, and thus potentially the least and most independent children. The protocol was approved by the Deakin University Ethics Committee and the Department of Education and Training Victoria.

Sample Characteristics

In total, 291 families of younger (27% response rate) and 919 families of older (44% response rate) children participated. On average, response rates were higher among schools in high SES areas compared to low SES areas (53% vs 38%, respectively). Residential address data were available for 81% of younger (n=235) and 74% of older (n=677) children. There were few differences between this subset and other participants. In general, the subset contained a slightly higher proportion of children who

Discussion

This study found that aspects of the social and physical neighborhood environment may influence children’s active commuting to school. The consistency of most findings across both age groups confirms the importance of these issues, and highlights that having other children nearby and improving urban design may be important strategies for increasing active commuting to school. While the personal and family factors included in this study were not related to active school journeys, this may be

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