The influence of the built environment on outcomes from a “walking school bus study”: a cross-sectional analysis using geographical information systems

Abstract

Active commuting to school increases children’s daily physical activity. The built environment is associated with children’s physical activity levels in cross-sectional studies. This study examined the role of the built environment on the outcomes of a “walking school bus” study. Geographical information systems was used to map out and compare the built environments around schools participating in a pilot walking school bus randomised controlled trial, as well as along school routes. Multi-level modelling was used to determine the built environment attributes associated with the outcomes of active commuting to school and accelerometer-determined moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MPVA). There were no differences in the surrounding built environments of control (n = 4) and intervention (n = 4) schools participating in the walking school bus study. Among school walking routes, park space was inversely associated with active commuting to school (β = −0.008, SE = 0.004, P = 0.03), while mixed-land use was positively associated with daily MPVA (β = 60.0, SE = 24.3, P = 0.02). There was effect modification such that high traffic volume and high street connectivity were associated with greater moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The results of this study suggest that the built environment may play a role in active school commuting outcomes and daily physical activity.

Interventions Aiming to Promote Active Commuting in Children and Adolescents: An Evaluation From a Sex/Gender Perspective

“…With regard to active transport, girls are less likely to actively commute to school or to leisure activities than boys (McDonald, 2007 ; Leslie et al, 2010 ; Oreskovic et al, 2014 ). Correspondingly, girls are driven to school more frequently than boys (Colley and Buliung, 2016 ).…”

“…Forms of AC during childhood and adolescence include walking, cycling, skateboarding, skating, or scooter riding to neighborhood destinations such as school, shops, sports facilities, and/or friends' homes (Timperio et al, 2004 ; Carver et al, 2010 ; Nelson and Woods, 2010 ). It appears that AC is associated with greater overall physical activity (PA) in boys and girls (Oreskovic et al, 2014 ; Ogilvie et al, 2016 ; Dinu et al, 2019 ). Therefore, promoting AC could be a simple way to foster PA and reduce sedentary behavior in children and adolescents (McCormack et al, 2011 ; Mendoza et al, 2011 ).…”

“…Additionally, it has been shown that in most countries, AC and ACS are less prevalent in girls than in boys (McDonald, 2007 ; Chillon et al, 2010 ; Oreskovic et al, 2014 ). Boys are more likely to cycle to school (Oreskovic et al, 2014 ; Carver et al, 2015 ; Kallio et al, 2016 ), while girls are more likely to walk (McDonald, 2007 ; Chillon et al, 2010 ; Panter et al, 2010 ). Furthermore, boys accumulate more steps than girls while walking to school (Craig et al, 2010 ; McCormack et al, 2011 ).…”

Ambiente obesogênico: uma cartografia do ambiente alimentar comunitário de uma capital do Nordeste

“…O registro de endereços e coordenadas geográficas das variáveis foi realizado pelo software Google Earth (Google, 2015) em sua versão 7.1.5.1557 para Personal Computer (PC), metodologia baseada no estudo de Oreskovic et al (Oreskovic et al, 2014).…”

Breaking Out of Surveillance Silos: Integrative Geospatial Data Collection for Child Injury Risk and Active School Transport

“…More recently, several studies have moved to integrate this work on travel path identification and measurement with investigation of built environment characteristics around schools and along AST routes used by children. [44][45][46] One related vein of research that has focused data collection more on behavior in the behavior-environment calculus is child pedestrian safety studies. Direct observation has been used as a tool to collect data on behavior in child injury surveillance and prevention studies, though this approach has received relatively little attention in the published research in AST.…”