The influence of the physical environment and sociodemographic characteristics on children's mode of travel to and from school.

Publisher: American Public Health Association Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 1254074 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1541-0048 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00900036 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Washington, DC : American Public Health Association
Original Publication: New York [etc.]

Child Behavior* ; Schools* ; Social Environment* ; Students*; Automobiles/*statistics & numerical data ; Bicycling/*statistics & numerical data ; Transportation/*statistics & numerical data ; Walking/*statistics & numerical data; Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Motor Activity ; Motor Vehicles/statistics & numerical data ; Ontario ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Statistics as Topic

Objectives: We examined whether certain characteristics of the social and physical environment influence a child's mode of travel between home and school.
Methods: Students aged 11 to 13 years from 21 schools throughout London, Ontario, answered questions from a travel behavior survey. A geographic information system linked survey responses for 614 students who lived within 1 mile of school to data on social and physical characteristics of environments around the home and school. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the influence of environmental factors on mode of travel (motorized vs "active") to and from school.
Results: Over 62% of students walked or biked to school, and 72% from school to home. The likelihood of walking or biking to school was positively associated with shorter trips, male gender, higher land use mix, and presence of street trees. Active travel from school to home was also associated with lower residential densities and lower neighborhood incomes.
Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that active travel is associated with environmental characteristics and suggest that school planners should consider these factors when siting schools in order to promote increased physical activity among students.

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Date Created: 20081225 Date Completed: 20090306 Latest Revision: 20211020

20231215

PMC2661449

10.2105/AJPH.2008.135319

19106422