School Commute Research Articles

Determining the Effectiveness of Interventions for the Reduction of Child Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution at Schools in England

Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is a significant risk to human health and is particularly damaging to children as a vulnerable group. TRAP exposure near schools and on the school commute is linked to a growing number of adverse health effects, including respiratory and cardiovascular disease and can lead to (and exacerbate existing) respiratory conditions. The current study aimed to assess the effectiveness of interventions for the reduction of potential child exposure to TRAP at the school gates and on the school commute. This study employed dispersion modelling to assess the effects of interventions for reducing TRAP concentrations in the vicinity of five schools in England. The results revealed that all interventions led to reductions in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations. Improved travel routes were the most effective intervention for reducing concentrations along travel routes, while the introduction of low-emission zones (LEZs) proved most effective in reducing NO2 concentrations at schools, with greater effectiveness observed at shorter distances. Active travel also demonstrated effectiveness, particularly in areas with heavy traffic. When considering all receptors, LEZ implementation, active travel, and rideshare interventions exhibited effectiveness, with greater distance providing greater reductions in NO2 concentrations. Anti-idling was found to be more effective in sparsely populated areas. Combined with improved travel routes, anti-idling showed the greatest percentage difference in concentrations, followed by active travel, and rideshare.

Mitigating child exposure to traffic-related air pollution on the school commute: Views of parents and teachers in England

Children are particularly vulnerable to the adverse health effects of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) due to their developing physiologies. A survey was distributed to schools in England for completion by parents and teachers. The survey examined perceptions of TRAP on the school commute and assessed views on potential interventions for reducing exposure. 76.7% of parents and 75.8% of teachers were concerned about TRAP at their school. The most common cause for concern was school proximity to a busy road (44.2% parents and 42.5% teachers).Active travel was the most common measure already undertaken. The biggest obstacles to reducing school TRAP were driving convenience, school proximity to busy roads, and lack of parental support. Parents and teachers considered local authorities most responsible for improving school TRAP. Active travel was a popular and desirable intervention for reducing potential child exposure, and parental education on this and related topics were also desirable.

‘There is a lot of traffic at the school gate in the morning which makes me nervous’: exploring children’s current and desired school commutes

ABSTRACT Although children are the primary users of many spaces, their voices are often unheard in transport planning. We therefore do not know much about children’s barriers or wishes regarding mobility. What is known, however, is that children have become less independent in their daily mobility, with parents (or guardians) increasingly driving children instead of allowing them to walk and cycle. The decline in active mobility is worrisome, since active mobility is beneficial to children, but incorporating children’s voices in transport planning can be conducive to increased active mobility of children. The objective of this paper is to explore the wishes and barriers of children regarding school commuting. Data was collected from a survey completed by 1251 pupils and through workshops with four schools in a residential neighbourhood in Brussels, Belgium. We found that there is a significant gap between the current and desired transport modes of pupils, with an important untapped potential for cycling. We also found that traffic safety is a predominant worry of pupils. Additionally, when suggesting the re-design of their school neighbourhood, the most recurring suggestions from pupils included walking and cycling infrastructure, and reduced access to the school neighbourhood for cars.

Travel mode choice tolerance (TMC tolerance): Exploring elementary school students' perceived ability to switch commuting modes

BackgroundAs an essential outdoor activity for children, the school commute has received repeated attention in the existing literature. Nevertheless, prior studies on the travel mode choice for school commutes have predominantly focused on the preferred commuting mode, overlooking the exploration of students' travel mode alternative behaviors. In this context, research is crucial to capture students' propensity and perceived ability to shift their travel mode from car to public and active transport. MethodsTo address this gap, our study introduces a definition of ‘Travel Mode Choice tolerance’ (TMC tolerance) to explore alternative mode behaviors during school commutes for elementary school students. The latest data from the Beijing Student Commuting Survey are adopted to analyze student populations with varying TMC tolerance levels. The chi-squared test is also employed to examine the impact of different influencing factors on TMC tolerance. ResultsBased on the empirical results derived from this definition, it is observed that students with a strong tolerance for modal shifts constitute more than half of the student population. Factors such as grade level, mode of escort, and distance were identified as significant influencers on children's TMC tolerances. Particularly noteworthy is that the percentage of students with a strong TMC tolerance significantly increases when the travel distance exceeds 2.25 km. Among students traveling alone, a higher proportion exhibits low tolerance than those with high tolerance. Additionally, the proportion of students with strong TMC tolerance increases with grade level (age). ConclusionsOperationalizing TMC tolerance as preference and ability variation can capture the collective impact of complex factors shaping commuting decisions, both observed and unobserved. According to the findings, four policy suggestions are proposed, including optimizing school site selection, establishing school buses or children-concerned transit systems, enhancing healthy travel education, and planning active travel routes.

Children are exposed to much more alcohol advertising when a liquor store is sited near a school

The physical location of liquor stores near schools can strongly influence the chances of youth accessing and consuming alcohol(1). As children transit to and from school, it is feasible that the presence of liquor stores near schools could also increase their exposure to alcohol advertising. Cumulative exposure to advertising influences alcohol attitudes, intentions and alcohol use(2), so reducing children’s exposure to alcohol advertising is important to delay the initiation of drinking and reduce future harms. As this has not yet been investigated in Australia, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of a liquor store near a school was associated with an increased prevalence of outdoor alcohol advertising in Perth, Western Australia. We identified all outdoor alcohol advertising within a 500m radius (audit zone) of 64 randomly selected primary and secondary schools from low and high socio-economic areas across metropolitan Perth. We recorded the size, type, setting, and location of each advertisement during field data collection. Each zone was categorised by the presence or absence of at least one liquor store within the school audit zone, and results compared across these stratifications. Over half (56%) of the 64 school audit zones had at least one alcohol advertisement. On average, there were 5.9 alcohol advertisements per zone. School audit zones that contained a liquor store (59%) had over thirty times the average number of alcohol advertisements compared with audit zones that did not contain a liquor store (9.7 vs 0.3). The majority of all the alcohol advertisements identified (63%) were located outside a liquor outlet as opposed to other food businesses (2%), along the roadside (31%), on a bus shelter (3%) or on/outside another business (0.5%). Our findings that Perth schools with a liquor store nearby had more outdoor alcohol advertising within a 500m radius, compared with schools without a nearby liquor store, were independent of school type (primary or secondary) or the socio-economic status of the area. This poses significant concerns about the exposure of underage populations to outdoor alcohol advertising, and the resultant influence on alcohol use. These results underscore the necessity for policy interventions to mitigate children’s exposure to alcohol marketing, especially during the daily school commute, by regulating the location of liquor stores and alcohol promotion near schools. It will be important to incorporate the voices of children when developing future policies to assert their right to be consulted, heard and appropriately influence their environments.

Impact of home-school commuting mode choice on carbon footprint and sustainable transport policy scenarios

Car use for commuting to school is responsible of a significant amount of CO2 emissions, negatively impacting on climate change and calling for action. We collected 8,343 responses through an online survey before the Covid-19 pandemic (November/December 2019) from a sample of schools located in the province of Varese (Northwest of Italy). First, the study estimates the home-school commuting CO2 emissions from students and school staff of the selected schools, both in the starting scenario and in policy scenarios, inducing different potential shifts from car towards more sustainable transport means. Second, it determines the most relevant factors of transport mode selection for school commuting. The findings show that students at high school, even if their trips are generally longer, have lower CO2 emissions than teachers/staff and students of primary and middle schools, because of a higher intensive use of public transport. The optimistic scenario of a 75% shift from car use to walking, for home-school distances up to 2 km, and to public transport, for distances between 2 and 10 km, would save a big amount of CO2 emissions, included in the range 60–67%. Travel distance and time are the two most relevant factors, when students and teachers/staff select the transport means for school commuting. The identification of appropriate sustainable transport policies should consider the geographical, urban, and infrastructural characteristics of the place in which each school is located and of the travel routes.

Sustainable Traffic Solutions for a Smooth School Commute

Sustainable Traffic Solutions for a Smooth School Commute

Anxiety levels among school-going adolescents in peri-urban areas of Karachi, Pakistan.

Mental health problems are pervasive nowadays. Adolescents are often expected to balance academic performance with familial obligations and work to support the family financially if they belong to low-socio-economic areas. These pressures can lead to Anxiety, stress, and even depression. The study's main objective is to assess the association of gender, parenting style, eating habit, and screen timing with the level of Anxiety among school-going adolescents in three peri-urban areas of Karachi, Pakistan. A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescents of age group 10-19 years using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale in two months in, three populated peri-urban areas of Karachi, Pakistan. Collected Data was analyzed by statistical software SPSS version with 80% response rate. In our collected data, 544 students participated; 313 (57%) were female, and 231(42%) were male. Among them 173(33%) participants showed moderate to severe level of anxiety out of which 140(26%) were female and 33(7%) were male. As per our study, strict Parenting style plays a significant role in developing moderate to severe 108(20%) levels of Anxiety, shown among adolescents in the studied population. In addition to this, those who do not take tuition 115 (21%), do not use transport to school 91(16%), spend significant time in games on mobile and computer 101 (18%), and have no involvement in physical activities 172 (31%) show more moderate to severe level anxiety than others factors. A significant multivariate association between level of anxiety with gender, school commute, type of lunch Intake, smoker family member at home, physical activity, video game, tuition and strict parent. This study concluded that there are various factors which have great association with anxiety and can affect adolescents' mental health badly. The factors were parental strictness, video game playing, a sedentary lifestyle, and the smoking habits of family members. Children and adolescents must be evaluated as soon as possible while they are still young to prevent mental health issues.

Active School Commuting in School Children: A Narrative Review of Current Evidence and Future Research Implications.

Active school commuting (ASC) has been proposed as a practical way to inculcate positive physical activity habits in children. This paper reviews the current evidence regarding ASC among children, highlights advances in research techniques and existing limitations in the field, and outlines future implications for research and promotion. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify English language studies on ASC among children aged 6-12 years, followed by a narrative review. ASC has witnessed a global decline, despite evidence of its contribution to physical activity levels. Context-dependent factors such as commuting distance and parental safety concerns are consistently identified as key determinants of ASC. Several promising interventions have been identified. Despite the limitations in intervention scope and quality, notable advancements in research techniques, such as multilevel regression and agent-based modelling, have been identified. Effective promotion of ASC to tackle childhood physical inactivity requires collaborative efforts among schools, parents, and the government, and should be tailored to address multilevel determinants within the local context. Future research should leverage recent advancements in research techniques to develop effective promotion strategies, while considering the context-dependent nature of ASC behaviours and addressing existing limitations, including the lack of standardised definitions and limited geographical and age coverage.

Exploring associations between built environment and crash risk of children in school commuting

Understanding how built environment are associated with crash risk (CR) in school commuting is essential to improving travel safety through land use and transportation policies. Scholars often assume that this relationship is consistent across space, but this may lead to inconsistent estimates. To address this issue, using data in Shenzhen, China, the data covers traffic accident data of children taken from police incident reports and supplemented with local land use, transportation network and specific school information. The measurement model of crash scale was conducted to represent crash severity, and the CR was further quantified. The study applies three models, spatial dubin model (SDM), geographically weighted regression (GWR), and mixed GWR (MGWR), to explore spatio-temporal heterogeneity relationships between built environment attributes and CR of children in school commuting. The findings reveal that the crash scale can better represent crash severity of school commuting than a single indicator. Policy interventions should be targeted at specific spatial scales, school types, and time windows to effectively improve travel safety. However, there are some common findings. It is recommended to use a scale of 200 m to explain the relationship between the variables. The MGWR model outperforms the other two models. To reduce CR, it is important to consider lower road network density, a reasonable layout of educational facilities, fewer bus routes, and more on-street parking spaces. Our findings can help to enrich the understanding of associations between land use and CR of children, as well as offer local planning and operating guidance for creating child-friendly environment.

Analysis of School Commuting Safety and Accident Trend by School Level: Text Network Analysis and Topic Modeling

In this study, the risk factors that lead to accidents when students commute to and from school was analyzed and compared using raw DATA, a collection of data notified by various levels of schools in Seoul between 2016 and 2021. A text-mining technique was employed for this analysis. The results suggest that kindergarteners experience accidents most often on their way home. The physical risk factors that cause accidents include stairs and vehicles which primarily damage the head and face. Keywords such as returning home, preparing to go home, and commuting to school-stairs were extracted in the text analysis. Similarly, elementary school students also experience accidents when returning home. Physical risk factors, such as stairs, are the primary cause of damage to the front teeth and forehead. Keywords such as returning home-stairs, returning home-playground, and returning home after school were identified. Middle school students also experience accidents, on their way home, and significant physical risk factors include stairs and bicycles, which cause injuries to the ankles, knees, ligaments, and legs. Keywords such as commuting to school-bicycle and returning home-play ground-friend-soccer were retrieved through text mining. High school students experience accidents on their way to school. Major physical risk factors, such as stairs, bicycles, and buses, have been found to cause damage to the ankles and knees. The keywords bicycle-commuting to school, bicycle-face, bicycle-steep downhill, and buses-ankle were detected. This study attempted to analyze the factors that lead to accidents when different grades of students commute to and from school to understand the characteristics of safety accidents at different school levels and to provide a policy direction for data-based safety education and safety management measures.

0112 Acute Sleep Restriction and Circadian Misalignment Impairs Attention in High School Students

Abstract Introduction We examined the impact of acute sleep restriction and circadian misalignment on reaction times in adolescents. Methods Adolescents (n=38, 21 girls) aged 14.1-18.0 years completed a 14-day protocol. On days 1-7, participants slept at home on individualized 10-h sleep/dark schedules. On days 8-14, they lived in the laboratory. On day 8, Dim Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO) was measured. On Days 9-13, sleep opportunity was restricted to 8.5h (n=9), 7h (n=12), or 5.5h (n=8). A fourth group was not sleep restricted a had a 10-h sleep opportunity (control; n=9). On days 11-13, sleep/dark gradually shifted earlier with morning bright light to advance circadian rhythms. Final DLMO was measured on day 14. Participants completed simple reaction time tasks on days 5 (baseline), 11 (after 2 sleep restriction (SR) nights = post-SR), and 13 (after 2 shifted sleep/dark nights = post-shift). Testing began 2.5h, 5.5h, 8.5h, and 11.5h after wake. Daily difference from baseline scores for post-SR lapses, median reaction time (MedRT), mean 1/RT (responses/sec), fastest 10% RT (F10), and slowest 10% 1/RT (S10) were compared between sleep opportunity groups. Final temperature minimum (Tmin) was estimated post-hoc (Final DLMO+7h). Tmin 2-4h before wake defined an aligned subgroup (N=16) and Tmin after wake defined a misaligned subgroup (N=10). Post-SR scores (day 11) were subtracted from post-shift scores (day 13) at corresponding times relative to wake. Aligned and misaligned subgroups were compared to determine the of impact circadian misalignment. Results Lapses [F(3,34)=3.8,p=.02] and MedRT [F(3,34=3.3,p=.03] increased from baseline in a SR-dose-dependent manner. Lapses and MedRT increased more with 7hSR (lapsesΔ=19.4±9.1; MedRTΔ=80.7±51.4 msec) and 5.5hSR (lapsesΔ=25.8±18.6; MedRTΔ=99.5±74.6 msec) compared to Control (lapsesΔ=5.4±4.8; MedRTΔ=20.8±21.7 msec). Mean 1/RT, F10, and S10 showed similar trends (p’s≤0.1). MedRT slowed [t(24)=2.24,p=0.04] and response rate decreased (Mean 1/RT: t(24)=2.06,p=.05; S10: t(24)=2.16,p=.04) in the misaligned compared to the aligned group 2.5h after wake. Conclusion Attention decrements occurred when sleep was restricted to 5.5h or 7h, the latter being a typical sleep opportunity for high school students. Circadian misalignment also contributed to decrements in morning attention, which has major implications for safety during the school commute and academics. Support (if any) R01 HL146772 (Crowley)

The Non-Linear Influence of Built Environment on the School Commuting Metro Ridership: The Case in Wuhan, China

Although many studies have investigated the non-linear relationship between the built environment and rail patronage, it remains unclear whether this influence is equally applicable to primary and secondary school students due to their physiological characteristics and cognitive limitations. This study applies the GBDT model to Wuhan student metro swipe data in order to investigate the relative importance and non-linear association of the built environment on the school-commuting metro ridership. The results show that the variable with the greatest predictive power is the number of living service facilities followed by the number of intersections, and the degree of land-use mixture. All of the built environment variables had non-linear associations with the school-commuting ridership, and the greatest attraction to the school-commuting metro ridership occurred when the number of living service facilities was 500, the number of intersections was 36, and the degree of land-use mixture was 0.8. These findings can help planners to prioritize land-use optimization and the effective range of land-use indicators when developing child-friendly rail transport policies.

Do long school commutes undermine teenagers’ wellbeing? Evidence from a nation-wide survey in China

IntroductionThere is reason to believe that a long school commute negatively affects the wellbeing of teenagers, but the empirical evidence is limited. The focus of past research has usually been on the commute mode or type rather than the commute length. Virtually all existing studies are based on surveys of a single domain of wellbeing; most have only established associations rather than causation and are set in highly developed countries in North America and Europe. Very few studies on this topic have been conducted in China. MethodsThis study employs a sizable nation-wide survey called China Education Panel Survey (CEPS). The sample includes nearly 7500 teenagers, ranging in age from 12 to 19, nearly all of whom attend public schools. Their wellbeing in relation to the length of the school commute is explored across three domains (health, activities, and cognition). An econometric technique called Propensity Score Matching (PSM) is applied to estimate causal effects; we control for 13 covariates. A long commute is defined as lasting at least 20 min one-way. ResultsLong commutes lead to: lower self-reported health and mental health scores, lower grades (in English, Chinese, mathematics, and cognitive tests), less time spent surfing the Internet, playing games, and sleeping, higher BMI and absenteeism, and more time completing household chores. When we control for commute mode, we find that even active long commutes are associated with lower physical and mental health status and reduced cognitive abilities and academic performance. ConclusionLong commutes negatively affect teenagers’ wellbeing regardless of transport mode (active or passive). To moderate this effect, the Chinese education and transport sectors should come together to (a) create and maintain a dense network of good schools; (b) improve transport services around schools; (c) provide publicly funded school-bus services; (d) build dormitories in very large school districts.

Active travel to school: a longitudinal millennium cohort study of schooling outcomes

ObjectivesAssess longitudinal associations between active travel during the school commute and later educational outcomes.SettingEngland, Wales and Northern Ireland.Participants6778 children, surveyed at ages 7, 11, 14 and 17.Primary and secondary outcomesSchool-leaver...

Food purchasing practices in various retail settings and dietary intake: A cross-sectional survey of Australian adolescents.

Discretionary, energy-dense, nutrient-poor food and drinks are heavily marketed and readily available in retail settings frequented by adolescents. This study examines associations between food purchasing practices in various retail settings and dietary intake among Australian adolescents. Participants were students in years 8 to 11 (ages 12-17 years) who completed the 2009-10 (n=13 790), 2012-13 (n=10309) or 2018 (n=9102) National Secondary Students' Diet and Activity (NaSSDA) cross-sectional survey. Multistage stratified random sampling was used. An online survey completed at school assessed self-reported frequency of food purchasing practices in various retail settings and consumption of discretionary food, sugary drinks, fruit and vegetables. Generalised linear regression models examined associations between food purchasing practices and dietary behaviour. Relative to students who brought lunch from home, those who purchased lunch from school or nearby outlets reported higher intake of discretionary food and sugary drinks and lower fruit intake. Buying lunch from school was also associated with lower vegetable intake. Buying food or drinks on the school commute, outside school grounds during school hours, from supermarket checkouts, and using mobile phone apps were each associated with higher discretionary food and sugary drink intake (all P < .01). Purchasing food or drink in various retail settings is associated with higher intake of discretionary food and drink among Australian adolescents, and some purchasing practices appeared to displace fruit and vegetable intake. SO WHAT?: These findings highlight a need to improve the accessibility and promotion of healthier food and drink options in schools and other retail settings.

The Non-Linear Influence of Built Environment on the School Commuting Metro Ridership: The Case in Wuhan, China

The Non-Linear Influence of Built Environment on the School Commuting Metro Ridership: The Case in Wuhan, China

P01-16 EUMOVE Project: an Erasmus+ Project for the promotion of healthy lifestyles among children and adolescents

Physical inactivity is a worldwide public challenge and a leading risk factor for overweight and obesity. Despite the well-recognized benefits of physical activity (PA), only 29% of European youth meet recommended guidelines of at least 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous PA. The school setting provides an ideal environment to promote healthy lifestyles among young people as initiatives can target all students and the whole school community. The main goal of the EUMOVE project is to design and implement a comprehensive set of strategies and resources to enable the educational community to promote healthy lifestyles in order to reduce risk factors for non-communicable diseases.EUMOVE project (https://eumoveproject.eu/) is a 3-year project delivered by a collaboration between academic and non-governmental institutions from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The direct beneficiaries of the project will include school leaders, teachers, and parents, and indirect beneficiaries will be primary and secondary students. EUMOVE project will develop a set of strategies and resources such as Physically Active Lessons Toolkit, Real Time Active Breaks Platform, Active School Commuting Toolkit, Learning Units about healthy lifestyles promotion, School Leaders toolkit, Parents Toolkit about promoting healthy lifestyles, and Mobile phone APP. Project dissemination will be implemented across each partner region and includes: Online dissemination through a learning platform, scientific events aimed at teachers and researchers, workshops with teachers including training on how to use the teaching resources, and Workshops with parents providing recommendations for promoting healthy lifestyle in their children.Thus, the EUMOVE project offers evidence-based and innovative resources to be applied by the educational community in the real-world setting to promote PA levels, appropriate diet and sleep habits, and reduce sedentary time amongst children and adolescents across a number of European countries.

Moderating Influence of Home Location and School Type Across Time on Cardiometabolic Risk and Active School Commuting: A Five-Year Longitudinal Study.

Background: We examined the moderating influence of home location and school type across time on cardiometabolic risk and active school commuting over 5 years in a sample of children from southern Brazil. Methods: We recruited a sample of children (n = 154; baseline age = 9.6 ± 1.5 years old; 56.8% female) who were followed for 5 years from 2011/2012 to 2016/2017. We collected home location, school type, and school commute data using self-report methods and collected cardiometabolic risk measures to calculate a cardiometabolic composite risk score (cMetSyn). General and generalized linear mixed effects models were employed to examine the moderating influence of home location and school type across time on cardiometabolic risk and active school commuting. Results: We found a significant three-way home location × school type × time interaction on cMetSyn scores (b = 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13-1.12, p = 0.014), indicating that children who were living within rural areas and enrolled in state schools during 2016/2017 had higher cardiometabolic risk compared with children enrolled in municipal schools and living in urban areas at the end of the study. Additionally, we found that children living in rural areas had an 86% lower rate of active school commuting compared with students living in urban areas (rate ratio = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.07-0.32, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results suggest that Brazilian children enrolled in state schools and living in rural areas had higher cardiometabolic risk scores at the end of the study and that southern Brazilian children residing in rural areas had a much lower rate of actively commuting to school.

Assessing School Travel Safety in Scotland: An Empirical Analysis of Injury Severities for Accidents in the School Commute

School travel has been a significant source of safety concerns for children, parents, and public authorities. It will continue to be a source of concerns as long as severe accidents continue to emerge during pupils’ commute to school. This study provides an empirical analysis of the factors influencing the injury severities of the accidents that occurred on trips to or from school in Scotland. Using 9-year data from the STATS19 public database, random parameter binary logit models with allowances for heterogeneity in the means were estimated in order to investigate injury severities in urban and rural areas. The results suggested that factors such as the road type, lighting conditions, vehicle type, and age of the driver or casualty constitute the common determinants of injury severities in both urban and rural areas. Single carriageways and vehicles running on heavy oil engines were found to induce opposite effects in urban and rural areas, whereas the involvement of a passenger car in the accident decomposed various layers of unobserved heterogeneity for both area types. The findings of this study can inform future policy interventions with a focus on traffic calming in the proximity of schools.