Built and Natural Environmental Correlates of Parental Safety Concerns for Children's Active Travel to School.

Young-Jae Kim,Chanam Lee

doi:10.3390/ijerph17020517

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examines built and natural environmental correlates of parental safety concerns for children’s active travel to school (ATS), controlling for socio-demographic, attitudinal, and social factors. Questionnaire surveys (n = 3291) completed by parents who had 1st–6th grade children were collected in 2011 from 20 elementary schools in Austin, Texas. Objectively-measured built and natural environmental data were derived from two software programs: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Environment for Visualizing Images (ENVI). Ordinal least square regressions were used for statistical analyses in this study. Results from the fully adjusted final model showed that bike lanes, the presence of highway and railroads, the presence of sex offenders, and steep slopes along the home-to-school route were associated with increased parental safety concerns, while greater intersection density and greater tree canopy coverage along the route were associated with decreased parental safety concerns. Natural elements and walking-friendly elements of the built environment appear important in reducing parental safety concerns, which is a necessary step toward promoting children’s ATS.

Highlights

Physical activity is important for children’s health, and the U.S Department of Health and HumanServices issued the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans in 2008 that recommends 60 min or more of daily physical activity for children [1]
Given the shortage of previous studies that focus on parental perceptions of safety related to children’s active travel to school (ATS), this study examines if and how built and natural environmental conditions along the home-to-school travel route are associated with parental safety concerns, controlling for personal, attitudinal, and social factors
With the use of objective measures in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Environment for Visualizing Images (ENVI), both built and natural environmental features were examined and a number of modifiable features significantly correlated with parental safety concerns were identified

Summary

Introduction

As a feasible way to increase children’s daily physical activity levels, active travel to school (ATS) by walking and bicycling has received wide attention from the public. Evidence from many empirical studies confirms that ATS among school-aged children contributes to increasing their overall physical activity levels [2,3,4]. To identify the reasons why some children walk or bicycle to school but others do not, a number of studies examined and confirmed the roles of environmental factors such as roadway conditions, sidewalk availability, transportation infrastructure, land uses, and urban form [6,7,8,9]. Children’s ATS is determined primarily by their parents, and parental decisions about their child’s school travel mode are based on a wide range of personal and environmental factors, especially those related to safety.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion