TY - JOUR
T1 - Natural and built environmental exposures on children's active school travel
T2 - A Dutch global positioning system-based cross-sectional study
AU - Helbich, Marco
AU - Zeylmans van Emmichoven, Maarten J.
AU - Dijst, Martin J.
AU - Kwan, Mei Po
AU - Pierik, Frank H.
AU - de Vries, Sanne I.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2016/5/1
Y1 - 2016/5/1
N2 - Physical inactivity among children is on the rise. Active transport to school (ATS), namely walking and cycling there, adds to children's activity level. Little is known about how exposures along actual routes influence children's transport behavior. This study examined how natural and built environments influence mode choice among Dutch children aged 6-11 years. 623 school trips were tracked with global positioning system. Natural and built environmental exposures were determined by means of a geographic information system and their associations with children's active/passive mode choice were analyzed using mixed models. The actual commuted distance is inversely associated with ATS when only personal, traffic safety, and weather features are considered. When the model is adjusted for urban environments, the results are reversed and distance is no longer significant, whereas well-connected streets and cycling lanes are positively associated with ATS. Neither green space nor weather is significant. As distance is not apparent as a constraining travel determinant when moving through urban landscapes, planning authorities should support children's ATS by providing well-designed cities.
AB - Physical inactivity among children is on the rise. Active transport to school (ATS), namely walking and cycling there, adds to children's activity level. Little is known about how exposures along actual routes influence children's transport behavior. This study examined how natural and built environments influence mode choice among Dutch children aged 6-11 years. 623 school trips were tracked with global positioning system. Natural and built environmental exposures were determined by means of a geographic information system and their associations with children's active/passive mode choice were analyzed using mixed models. The actual commuted distance is inversely associated with ATS when only personal, traffic safety, and weather features are considered. When the model is adjusted for urban environments, the results are reversed and distance is no longer significant, whereas well-connected streets and cycling lanes are positively associated with ATS. Neither green space nor weather is significant. As distance is not apparent as a constraining travel determinant when moving through urban landscapes, planning authorities should support children's ATS by providing well-designed cities.
KW - Active and passive transport
KW - Building-roughness index
KW - Elementary school children
KW - Environmental exposures
KW - Global positioning system
KW - Space syntax
KW - The Netherlands
KW - Weather, natural and built environment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84961249377&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.03.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 27010106
AN - SCOPUS:84961249377
SN - 1353-8292
VL - 39
SP - 101
EP - 109
JO - Health and Place
JF - Health and Place
ER -