What Parental Correlates Predict Children’s Active Transportation to School in the Southeast USA?

Abstract

School-aged children in the Southeast USA have been found to have significantly lower levels of active transportation to school (ATS) via walking or biking. Parents, the main gatekeeper of children’s ATS behaviors, usually weigh their perceptions of the sociocultural and the neighborhood-built environments when making their ATS decision. PURPOSE: To contrast the correlates of ATS decision-making behavior between parents living in the Southeast with other parents across the USA. METHODS: This study utilized data from 2,952 households from across the USA (50.6% from the Southeast USA) that had school-aged children (K-8th grade) who were located within a 20-minute walk to a school. Parents were surveyed during 2012-13 using a mixed-mode approach that involved telephone and web surveys. Parents self-reported their child’s ATS behavior and their own attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions in five areas related to ATS - safety and convenience concerns, perceived ATS benefits, desired neighborhood active transportation characteristics, and perceived ATS social norms. In addition, parents reported the demographics and the geographical characteristics of their home. PROC LOGISTIC in SAS was utilized to contrast correlates between the Southeast and the USA. RESULTS: Parents in the Southeast, compared to parents across the USA, were significantly less likely to allow their child to take ATS (12.9% vs. 33.3%, respectively) (OR=0.46; 95% CI=0.36-0.59). ATS correlates, regardless of USA region, included decreases in ATS with increasing age (OR=0.97; 95% CI=0.96-0.99), and increases in ATS if parents perceived ATS to be the norm (OR=2.57; 95% CI=2.23-2.96). Correlates linked to increases in ATS, which were limited to only parents living in the Southeast, were being black (OR=1.68; 95% CI=1.31-2.60) and being single, (OR=1.71; 95% CI=1.15-2.54). The only correlate association related to a decrease in ATS specific to the Southeast was heightened safety concerns (OR=0.44; 95% CI=0.23-0.84). CONCLUSIONS: Among households located near schools in the Southeast, interventions that allay parental ATS safety concerns might lead to increased ATS. In addition, programs that promote physical activity among adults in the Southeast might indirectly lead to increases in ATS among households with children.