Background
Few children accumulate the recommended ≥60 minutes of physical activity each day.
Active travel to and from school (ATS) is a potential source of increased activity
for children, accounting for 22% of total trips and time spent traveling by school-aged
children.
Purpose
This study identifies the association of parents’ perceptions of the neighborhood,
geospatial variables, and demographic characteristics with ATS among students in four
low-income, densely populated urban communities with predominantly minority populations.
Methods
Data were collected in 2009–2010 from households with school-attending children in
four low-income New Jersey cities. Multivariate logistic regression analyses (n=765) identified predictors of ATS. Analyses were conducted in 2012.
Results
In all, 54% of students actively commuted to school. Students whose parents perceived
the neighborhood as very unpleasant for activity were less likely (OR=0.39) to actively
commute, as were students living farther from school, with a 6% reduction in ATS for
every 0.10 mile increase in distance to school. Perceptions of crime, traffic, and
sidewalk conditions were not predictors of ATS.
Conclusions
Parents’ perceptions of the pleasantness of the neighborhood, independent of the effects
of distance from school, may outweigh concerns about crime, traffic, or conditions
of sidewalks in predicting active commuting to school in the low-income urban communities
studied. Efforts such as cleaning up graffiti, taking care of abandoned buildings,
and providing shade trees to improve neighborhood environments are likely to increase
ATS, as are efforts that encourage locating schools closer to the populations they
serve.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to American Journal of Preventive MedicineAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Association between time spent in sedentary, moderate to vigorous physical activity, body mass index, cardiorespiratory fitness and blood pressure.Ann Hum Biol. 2009; 36: 379-387
- Physical activity and blood pressure in childhood: findings from a population-based study.Hypertension. 2008; 51: 92-98
- Dietary and lifestyle factors associated with blood pressure among U.S. adolescents.J Adolesc Health. 2007; 40: 166-172
- Physical activity and clustered cardiovascular risk in children: a cross-sectional study (the European youth heart study).Lancet. 2006; 368: 299-304
- Exercise alone reduces insulin resistance in obese children independently of changes in body composition.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007; 92: 4230-4235
- Metabolic syndrome and its association with diet and physical activity in U.S. adolescents.J Am Dietetic Assoc. 2008; 108: 276-286
- Relationship of physical activity, fitness, and fatness with clustered metabolic risk in children and adolescents: the European Youth Heart study.J Pediatrics. 2007; 150: 388-394
- Prevalence and cardiovascular disease correlates of low cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents and adults.J Am Med Assoc. 2005; 294: 2981-2988
- Exercise training and cardiovascular risk factors in type 1 diabetic adolescent girls.Pediatr Exerc Sci. 2007; 19: 408-419
- Improvement of early vascular changes and cardiovascular risk factors in obese children after a six-month exercise program.J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006; 48: 1865-1870
- Physical activity in childhood may be the key to optimizing lifespan skeletal health.Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2012; 40: 13-21
- Association between child and adolescent television viewing and adult health: a longitudinal birth cohort study.Lancet. 2004; 364: 257-262
- Systolic blood pressure in childhood predicts hypertension and metabolic syndrome later in life.Pediatrics. 2008; 119: 237-246
- (USDHHS. 2008 physical activity guidelines for Americans) USDHHS, Washington DC2008
- Physical activity in the U.S. measured by accelerometer.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008; 40: 181-188
- U.S. school travel, 2009: An assessment of trends.Am J Prev Med. 2011; 41: 146-151
- Commuting to school: are children who walk more physically active?.Am J Prev Med. 2003; 25: 273-276
- Barriers to and facilitators of walking and bicycling to school: formative results from the non-motorized travel study.Health Educ Behav. 2008; 35: 221
- Children’s mode choice for the school trip: the role of distance and school location in walking to school.Transportation. 2008; 35: 23-35
- Sociodemographic family, and environmental factors associated with active commuting to school among U.S. adolescents.J Public Health Policy. 2009; 30: S203-20
- Demographic, environmental, access, and attitude factors that influence walking to school by elementary school-aged children.J Sch Health. 2009; 79: 255-261
- Correlates of walking to school and implications for public policies: survey results from parents of elementary school children in Austin, Texas.J Public Health Policy. 2009; 30: S177-S202
- Prevalence and correlates of walking and biking to school among adolescents.J Community Health. 2009; 34: 129-134
- Ethnic minority children's active commuting to school and association with physical activity and pedestrian safety behaviors.J Appl Res Child. 2010; 1: 1
- Active travel to school: policies and attitudes of school and district leaders.J Phys Act Health. 2010; 7: S13-S19
- Evaluation of the California safe routes to school legislation: urban form changes and children’s active transportation to school.Am J Prev Med. 2005; 28: 134-140
- Personal, family, social, and environmental correlates of active commuting to school.Am J Prev Med. 2006; 30: 45-51
- Walking and cycling to school: predictors of increases among children and adolescents.Am J Prev Med. 2009; 36: 195-200
- Neighborhood, route, and school environments and children's active commuting.Am J Prev Med. 2010; 38: 268-278
- Critical factors for active transportation to school among low-income and minority students: evidence from the 2001 national household travel survey.Am J Prev Med. 2008; 34: 341-344
The American Association for Public Opinion Research. Standard definitions: final dispositions of case codes and outcome rates for surveys. 2009.
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. California Health Interview Survey. healthpolicy.ucla.edu/chis/design/Documents/CHIS2009childquestionnaire.pdf.
- Girls' perception of physical environmental factors and transportation: Reliability and association with physical activity and active transport to school.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2006; 3: 28
- Perceptions of neighborhood environment for physical activity: is it “who you are” or “where you live”?.J Urban Health. 2004; 81: 671-681
- Environmental and policy factors associated with overweight among adults in Missouri.Am J Health Promot. 2003; 17: 249-258
- Reach 2010. St. Louis Healthy Heart Survey.St. Louis University, 2010
- Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy.Science. 1997; 277: 918-924
- Active commuting to and from school and BMI in elementary school children—preliminary data.Child Care Health Dev. 2005; 31: 341-349
- Neighborhood incivilities, perceived neighborhood safety, and walking to school among urban-dwelling children.J Phys Act Health. 2011; 8: 262-271
- Active commuting to school: associations with environment and parental concerns.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006; 38: 787-794
- Neighborhood design and perceptions: relationship with active commuting.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010; 42: 1253-1260
- Walking routes to school in new urban and suburban neighborhoods: an environmental walkability of blocks and routes.J Environ Psychol. 2011; 31: 184-191
- Social-ecological correlates of active commuting to school among high school students.J Adolesc Health. 2008; 42: 486-495
- Perceived and observed neighborhood indicators of obesity among urban adults.Int J Obes. 2007; 31: 968-977
- Impact of the food environment and physical activity environment on behaviors and weight status in rural U.S. communities.Prev Med. 2008; 47: 600-604
- Reliability of self-reported neighborhood characteristics.J Urban Health. 2004; 81: 682-701
- Does community type moderate the relationship between parent perceptions of the neighborhood and physical activity in children?.Am J Health Promot. 2012; 26: 371-380
U.S. Census Bureau. State & County QuickFacts. quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34000.html.
- Children’s active commuting to school: current knowledge and future directions.Prev Chronic Dis. 2008; 5: A100
- Active transportation and acculturation among Latino children in San Diego county.Prev Med. 2008; 47: 313-318
- Vehicle emissions during children's school commuting: Impacts of education policy.Environ Sci Technol. 2010; 44: 1537-1543
Ham SA, Martin S, Kohl HW. Changes in the percentage of students who walk or bike to school—U.S., 1969 and 2001. J Phys Act Health 2008;5:205–15.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Travel and environmental implications of school siting. 2003. www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/school_travel.pdf.
White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity. Solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. 2010. www.letsmove.gov/sites/letsmove.gov/files/TaskForce_on_Childhood_Obesity_May2010_FullReport.pdf.
Council of Educational Facility Planners International. A CEFPI brief on educational facility issues. School site size—how many acres are necessary? 2003. media.cefpi.org/issuetraks/issuetrak0903.pdf.
- School siting: contested visions of the community school. American Planning Association.J Am Plann Assoc. 2010; 76: 184-198
- Neighborhood-based differences in physical activity: an environment scale evaluation.Am J Public Health. 2003; 93: 1552-1558
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
