Promotion of Walking for Transportation: A Report From the Walk to School Day Registry

Abstract

Background:In the United States, promoting active transportation to school has received increased attention as a means of encouraging physical activity and preventing obesity among youth. However, little systematic evaluation of existing programs such as Walk to School (WTS) has occurred.Methods:WTS coordinators from across the United States were surveyed (via Web, mail, and telephone) about program activities, school and environmental characteristics, and perceived changes in children walking to school. As an exploratory aim, logistic-regression analyses were used to examine program characteristics associated with perceived increases in children walking.Results:From a database of 783 coordinators, 493 usable surveys were returned. Almost all respondents (98.2%) participated in a 1-day WTS event. Other common activities included promotional activities (72.7%), safety trainings (49.6%), walkability audits (48.5%), and designated safe walking routes (46.5%). As part of their WTS efforts, 24.4% made policy changes and 38.4% made changes to the physical environment. Logistic-regression analyses showed that policy changes, physical environment improvements, and number of activities were associated with the largest perceived increased in children walking to school.Conclusions:These findings help address the gap in knowledge about schools’ participation in WTS programs, and strategies are suggested to increase active transportation to school.

School physical activity policies and active transport to school among pupils in the Czech Republic

“…These activities, together with active transport, will increase the level of adolescents' MVPA (Heath et al, 2012). Policies and interventions such as the Walk to School program in the USA (Vaughn et al, 2009), children walking to school in Italy (World Health Organization, 2002), or Living Streets in the United Kingdom (Adams et al, 2012) seem to be effective programs to increase the level of active commuting to school. The Living Streets program also reports on the health outcomes of active commuting (Sinnett and Powell, 2012).…”

A cross-sectional study of demographic, environmental and parental barriers to active school travel among children in the United States

“…The first phase of this project involved a national survey of WTS program coordinators [15], from which 14 schools were randomly selected to participate in a more intensive evaluation (phase 2). These 14 “case” schools represented five geographic regions (Alaska and Northwest (NW), California (CA), Southcentral (SC), Southeast (SE), and Northeast (NE)), as well as three levels of WTS program implementation (low, medium, high) [14,15]. In addition, a “control” school (with no previous participation in WTS) was also identified from each of the five regions and recruited to participate for a total sample of 19 schools.…”

“…The study uses data from the National Evaluation of Walk to School project [14,15]. Data from this project provide the opportunity to explore the interplay between socio-demographic characteristics, the physical environment, and the social environment – factors that have been highlighted in a recent review as important correlates of active school travel [16].…”

Active transport of Czech school children in the context of school policies

“…podporou PA na školách (Eyler et al, 2008;Faulkner, Buliung, Flora, & Fusco, 2009), prevencí obezity prostřednictvím podpory PA a zdravého stravování (Fung et al, 2012). Zahraniční intervence zaměřené na podporu AT, jako je například Walk to School program v USA (Vaughn et al, 2009) nebo Living Streets ve Velké Británii, také vykazují pozitivní zdravotní dopady spojené s podporou AT (Sinnett & Powell, 2012). Opatření na podporu AT a zvýšení úrovně PA jsou rovněž úzce spojeny s dalšími intervencemi ve školním prostředí.…”