Abstract
BackgroundIncreasing participation in transportation cycling represents a useful strategy for increasing children’s physical activity levels. Knowledge on how to design environments to encourage adoption and maintenance of transportation cycling is limited and relies mainly on observational studies. The current study experimentally investigates the relative importance of micro-scale environmental factors for children’s transportation cycling, as these micro-scale factors are easier to change within an existing neighborhood compared to macro-scale environmental factors (i.e. connectivity, land-use mix, …).MethodsResearchers recruited children and their parents (n = 1232) via 45 randomly selected schools across Flanders and completed an online questionnaire which consisted of 1) demographic questions; and 2) a choice-based conjoint (CBC) task. During this task, participants chose between two photographs which we had experimentally manipulated in seven micro-scale environmental factors: type of cycle path; evenness of cycle path; traffic speed; traffic density; presence of speed bumps; environmental maintenance; and vegetation. Participants indicated which route they preferred to (let their child) cycle along. To find the relative importance of these micro-scale environmental factors, we conducted Hierarchical Bayes analyses.ResultsType of cycle path emerged as the most important factor by far among both children and their parents, followed by traffic density and maintenance, and evenness of the cycle path among children. Among parents, speed limits and maintenance emerged as second most important, followed by evenness of the cycle path, and traffic density.ConclusionFindings indicate that improvements in micro-scale environmental factors might be effective for increasing children’s transportation cycling, since they increase the perceived supportiveness of the physical environment for transportation cycling. Investments in creating a clearly designated space for the young cyclist, separated from motorized traffic, appears to be the most effective way to increase perceived supportiveness. Future research should confirm our laboratory findings with experimental on-site research.
Highlights
Most children in Europe do not achieve the recommended hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day to obtain health benefits [1, 2]
Participants chose between two photographs which we had experimentally manipulated in seven micro-scale environmental factors: type of cycle path; evenness of cycle path; traffic speed; traffic density; presence of speed bumps; environmental maintenance; and vegetation
The present paper focuses on micro-scale semi-fixed environmental factors, such as the evenness of cycle path, the amount of vegetation and the speed restrictions, which are street characteristics that are the responsibility of local actors within the community
Summary
Most children in Europe do not achieve the recommended hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day to obtain health benefits [1, 2]. Since 2005, active transport (i.e. walking or cycling to a destination within the neighborhood) has been identified as an important source of physical activity among children [2, 4]. Children who regularly cycle for transport have better cardiovascular health [8, 9], have better physical fitness [10], have a lower body mass index [11, 12] and a healthier body composition [13] compared to those driven to their destinations. Increasing participation in transportation cycling represents a useful strategy for increasing children’s physical activity levels. The current study experimentally investigates the relative importance of micro-scale environmental factors for children’s transportation cycling, as these micro-scale factors are easier to change within an existing neighborhood compared to macro-scale environmental factors The current study experimentally investigates the relative importance of micro-scale environmental factors for children’s transportation cycling, as these micro-scale factors are easier to change within an existing neighborhood compared to macro-scale environmental factors (i.e. connectivity, land-use mix, . . .)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
