U.S. active school travel in 2017: Prevalence and correlates

Kontou, Eleftheria; McDonald, Noreen C.; Brookshire, Kristen; Pullen-Seufert, Nancy; LaJeunesse, Seth

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.101024

Cited by 52 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Globally, the prevalence of ACS varies across countries ranging from 11-53% in children (19,(34)(35)(36) and from 28-70% in adolescents (13,(34)(35)(36)(37). In the present study, 60% Spanish children and adolescents were using ACS during the 2010-2017 period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…In addition, factors such as the heterogeneity of research questions and methods of assessing the mode of commuting to school differ between countries (40). These differences may contribute to cross-country variations in prevalence of ACS among children and adolescents observed in this and other studies (13,19,(34)(35)(36). Therefore, interventions aiming to increase higher rates of ACS are necessary from a public health perspective to achieve increasing physical activity and reducing time spent in sedentary behaviors among Spanish children and adolescents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

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Active Commuting to School Among 36, 781 Spanish Children and Adolescents: A Temporal Trend Study

Gálvez-Fernández

Herrador‐Colmenero

Esteban‐Cornejo

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Active commuting to school (ACS) is an important source to increase the total daily physical activity in youth and improve their health. How the ACS rates change along the time is of interest. The objective of this study was to examine trends in the rates of ACS in a large sample of Spanish children and adolescents aged 6–18 years from 2010 to 2017. The study period included the economic crisis in Spain (2008 to 2013) and secondary analysis was conducted to compare ACS rates during and after the economic crisis. Methods To investigate trends in ACS among Spanish children and adolescents, data were obtained from 28 studies conducted across Spain. The study sample comprised 18,343 children (6 to 11.9 years old; 50.5% girls) and 18,438 adolescents (12 to 18 years old; 49.5% girls). The overall trends in ACS were evaluated using multilevel logistic regression analysis. Results The rates of ACS in Spanish children and adolescents did not change significantly during the 2010–2017 period, except a sporadic increase in the rate of ACS in adolescents in 2012–2013. No significant association between the ACS and the economic crisis time period in either children or adolescents were found. These findings are in contrast to recently reported declines in ACS rates in other countries. Conclusions Strong partnerships between researchers, public health practitioners, policy-makers and communities, as well as long-term commitment and evaluations of interventions aiming to increase ACS are necessary to ensure positive results in the long term.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Active Commuting to School Among 36, 781 Spanish Children and Adolescents: A Temporal Trend Study

Gálvez-Fernández

Herrador‐Colmenero

Esteban‐Cornejo

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…In our study, street connectivity and residential density measures acted as barriers and not as facilitators of ACS among rural participants. Thus, it is necessary to highlight that diverse criteria are used in rural area definitions across countries (e.g., considering the total population, population density, or some economic indicators) [28,42,43], and that the street connectivity and residential density factors seem to be adapted to urban areas. Thus more specific walkability measures should be developed for rural contexts in future studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different neighborhood walkability indexes for active commuting to school are necessary for urban and rural children and adolescents

Molina‐García

Campos

García‐Massó

et al. 2020

Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act

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Background Literature focusing on youth has reported limited evidence and non-conclusive associations between neighborhood walkability measures and active commuting to and from school (ACS). Moreover, there is a lack of studies evaluating both macro- and micro-scale environmental factors of the neighborhood when ACS is analyzed. Likewise, most studies on built environment attributes and ACS focus on urban areas, whereas there is a lack of studies analyzing rural residential locations. Moreover, the relationship between built environment attributes and ACS may differ in children and adolescents. Hence, this study aimed to develop walkability indexes in relation to ACS for urban and rural children and adolescents, including both macro- and micro-scale school-neighborhood factors. Methods A cross-sectional study of 4593 participants from Spain with a mean age of 12.2 (SD 3.6) years was carried out. Macro-scale environmental factors were evaluated using geographic information system data, and micro-scale factors were measured using observational procedures. Socio-demographic characteristics and ACS were assessed with a questionnaire. Several linear regression models were conducted, including all the possible combinations of six or less built environment factors in order to find the best walkability index. Results Analyses showed that intersection density, number of four-way intersections, and residential density were positively related to ACS in urban participants, but negatively in rural participants. In rural children, positive streetscape characteristics, number of regulated crossings, traffic calming features, traffic lanes, and parking street buffers were also negatively related to ACS. In urban participants, other different factors were positively related to ACS: number of regulated crossings, positive streetscape characteristics, or crossing quality. Land use mix acted as a positive predictor only in urban adolescents. Distance to the school was a negative predictor on all the walkability indexes. However, aesthetic and social characteristics were not included in any of the indexes. Conclusions Interventions focusing on improving built environments to increase ACS behavior need to have a better understanding of the walkability components that are specifically relevant to urban or rural samples.

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“…Many school districts in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and the UK offer traffic education as part of their regular curriculum (ETSC, 2019). That includes the instruction and training of children in safe walking and cycling skills, which is important because children in those countries walk or bike for a large share of their trips (NL: 64%, DK: 51%, GER: 43%, UK: 34%) (Pucher & Buehler, 2010;Buehler & Pucher, 2021a, 2021bHarms et al, 2016;Kontou, McDonald, Brookshire, Pullen-Seufert, & LaJeunesse, 2020). By comparison, few American schools offer this sort of traffic safety training for young children, perhaps because such a small percentage of American children get to school by walking or cycling, indeed only 10% in 2017 (Kontou et al, 2020).…”

Section: Traffic Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The growing gap in pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates between the United States and the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands, 1990–2018

Buehler

Pucher

2020

Transport Reviews

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Using official national data for each country, this article calculates trends in walking and cycling fatalities per capita and per km in the USA, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. From 1990 to 2018, pedestrian fatalities per capita fell by 23% in the USA vs. 66%-80% in the other countries; cyclist fatalities per capita fell by 22% in the USA vs. 55%-68% in the other countries. In 2018, pedestrian fatality rates per km in the USA were 5-10 times higher than in the other four countries; cyclist fatality rates per km in the USA were 4-7 times higher. The gap in walking and cycling fatality rates between the USA and the other countries increased over the entire 28-year period, but especially from 2010 to 2018. Over that 8-year period, per-capita fatality rates in the USA rose by 19% for pedestrians and 11% for cyclists; per-km fatality rates rose by 17% for pedestrians and 33% for cyclists. By comparison, fatality rates either fell or remained stable in the four European countries. We reviewed the relevant literature to identify factors that might help explain the much lower walking and cycling fatality rates in Europe compared to the USA. Possible explanatory factors include better walking and cycling infrastructure; lower urban speed limits; fewer vehicle km travelled; smaller and less powerful personal motor vehicles; and better traffic training, testing, and enforcement of traffic regulations. We recommend that the USA consider implementing an integrated package of mutually reinforcing safety measures such as those that have been successfully implemented in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany to reduce pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates.

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U.S. active school travel in 2017: Prevalence and correlates

Cited by 52 publications

References 31 publications

Active Commuting to School Among 36, 781 Spanish Children and Adolescents: A Temporal Trend Study

Active Commuting to School Among 36, 781 Spanish Children and Adolescents: A Temporal Trend Study

Different neighborhood walkability indexes for active commuting to school are necessary for urban and rural children and adolescents

The growing gap in pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates between the United States and the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands, 1990–2018

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