Impact Of A Walking School Bus On The Prevalence Of Active Commuting Over Three Years

Abstract

Public health promotions encouraging children to walk to and from school have amplified in an effort to increase daily physical activity. One initiative, the "Walking School Bus," encourages children to walk to and from school in groups accompanied by an adult. PURPOSE: To determine the impact of a Walking School Bus (WSB) intervention on school-wide prevalence of active commuting (AC) over three years. METHODS: A WSB was implemented in two local mid-west elementary schools (n = 479) and prevalence of AC was compared to a control school (CON, n = 234). The WSB program provided adults (paid college students) to escort children to and from school from neighborhood walk-stops within one-mile of school. School-wide prevalence of AC was determined for one week, three times per year (Fall, Winter, Spring) over 3 years using a previously validated self-report logging tool. RESULTS: Baseline prevalence of AC was 30% and 31% at the WSB and CON schools, respectively. During winter months, prevalence of AC was maintained in WSB while CON prevalence decreased to 21%. Fall and spring prevalence rates were 44 % and 40% for WSB and 31% and 26% for CON, respectively. Over the three years, 36.2% of WSB students AC at least 50% of the time (meeting the HP 2010 recommendation) compared to 26.2% of CON. The estimated odds that a student in a WSB school AC>50% were 1.56 times larger than the estimated odds that a student in the CON school AC>50% given the same season and year (95% CI 1.21 - 2, P = 0.0005). In addition, the estimated odds of a student AC in the morning were 2.01 times greater in the fall than the winter (95% CI 1.71 - 2.36, P < 0.0001) and 1.32 times greater in the fall than spring (95% CI 1.14 - 1.53, P = 0.0002) for both WSB and CON. CONCLUSION: Walk-to-school programs have the potential to significantly increase the prevalence of AC among elementary school students. Promotions should focus on providing adult supervision to overcome parental perceived barriers and may be most successful in fall months in the Mid-west.