Children's Active Transportation

Richard Larouche

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780128119327
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Transportation & Navigation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Children's Active Transportation is a rigorous and comprehensive examination of the current research and interventions on active transportation for children and youth. As the travel behaviors of these groups tend to be highly routinized, and their mobility faces unique constraints, such as parental restrictions, mandatory school attendance, and the inability to drive a motor vehicle before late adolescence, this book examines the key factors that influence travel behavior among children and youth, providing key insights into lessons learned from current interventions. Readers will find a resource that clearly demonstrates how critical it is for children to develop strong, active transportation habits that carry into adulthood.

• Discusses the correlates that exist between children's active transportation using a social and ecological model
• Summarizes active transportation interventions that show what works to increase non-motorized modes of travel in children
• Describes the factors that influence the implementation and effectiveness of interventions

1

Public Health Benefits of Active Transportation

Christine Voss Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the current scientific evidence base regarding active transportation (AT) and health in children and adolescents. In particular, it describes how AT contributes significantly to greater physical activity levels in children and youth—an important health behaviour. Associations with physical health outcomes, such as cardiorespiratory fitness, weight status and cardiometabolic risk factors will also be reviewed. The chapter will conclude with recommendations for policy and practice implementation and future research in this important public health area.

Keywords

Active travel; Cardiovascular fitness; Health benefits; Obesity; Physical activity; Public health

Chapter Outline

1. 1.1 Introduction
2. 1.2 Active Transportation and Physical Activity
   1. 1.2.1 How Active Transportation Causes Greater Physical Activity Levels
   2. 1.2.2 Is It All About School Travel?
   3. 1.2.3 Who Benefits the Most?
   4. 1.2.4 Are All Trips Equal?

1. 1.3 Active Transportation and Physical Health
   1. 1.3.1 Cardiorespiratory Fitness
   2. 1.3.2 Body Weight and Composition
   3. 1.3.3 Cardiometabolic Risk Factors
   4. 1.3.4 Other Physical Health Outcomes

1. 1.4 Active Transportation and Psychosocial Health
2. 1.5 Conclusions
3. 1.6 Recommendations for Policy and Practice
4. 1.7 Recommendations for Future Research
5. References

Walking is man’s best medicine.

Hippocrates

1.1. Introduction

Ironically, the early landmark research studies from the 1950s that first alerted us to the critical importance of physical activity (PA) for health centred around active transportation (AT); one study identified a lower incidence of heart disease in men who used AT as part of their occupation compared with their more sedentary counterparts, such as bus conductors versus bus drivers and mail carriers versus telephonist. ¹ Since then, AT has been largely ignored as a public health priority. Only in recent years has the scientific evidence on the link between AT and health become so overwhelmingly compelling that AT (walking and cycling, specifically) is now frequently featured in advocacy reports as a strategy to combat the significant global chronic disease burden. ^2,3

This chapter will review the scientific evidence on the link between AT and health in children and adolescents, with particular emphasis on its meaningful contribution to PA levels. Direct links between AT and physical health outcomes, such as cardiorespiratory fitness, weight status and cardiometabolic risk factors, will also be reviewed. The chapter will conclude with recommendations for policy and practice implementation and future research in this important public health area.

1.2. Active Transportation and Physical Activity

PA is recognized as one of the most important health behaviours; in children and adolescents, the benefits of regular PA include cardiovascular and metabolic health, healthy bone and muscle development, maintenance of healthy body weight, and mental well-being. ⁴ In order to optimize these health outcomes, the World Health Organization recommends that children and adolescents aged 5–17 years engage in at least 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) every day. ⁵ In this context, it is important to note that the technical definition of PA is ‘any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure’. ⁶ Guidelines typically call for activities of moderate intensity or higher, which refers to any activities that slightly increase the heart rate and breathing, such as brisk walking. This is regardless of the purpose of the activity, meaning that leisure activities and exercise contribute to daily activity goals, as do occupational labour and AT. Despite our understanding of the importance of PA for health, we are currently experiencing a global physical inactivity crisis with estimates suggesting that fewer than 1 in 5 children worldwide achieve guidelines. ⁷

In light of the alarmingly low PA levels in children, AT in children and adolescents has been studied extensively over the last 2 decades. Several comprehensive review articles that vary in scope have critically evaluated and summarized the numerous original research articles on this topic. ^8–13 Original research articles varied widely in terms of study design ^a (predominantly cross-sectional, few longitudinal or experimental), study setting (predominantly North America, Europe and Australia, few others), measures of PA (predominantly objective such as accelerometers and pedometers, fewer self-report), sample size and age group. Regardless of these differences, approximately 3 out of 4 studies reported that children and/or adolescents who used AT were significantly more active than those using passive transportation, ^14–65 with the remainder of articles finding no association. ^66–80 No study reported that children who used AT were less active. A positive association was slightly more common when objective measures of PA were used compared with self-report tools. This is not surprising because of the known recall error in younger children and the limitations of self-report tools to adequately capture dose and volume of PA, especially of non-organized activities such as walking.

1.2.1. How Active Transportation Causes Greater Physical Activity Levels

Walking, cycling and other types of ‘rolling’ (i.e., scooter) for transportation meets the technical definition of PA—namely, ‘any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure’ ⁶ —and can therefore be viewed as direct sources of PA. This concept is corroborated by several original research articles whose research methodologies allowed researchers to specifically assess travel-related PA. Objective devices timestamp PA data, which allows researchers to describe PA patterns at specific times of the day. In these studies, the PA levels were consistently higher during school travel windows in active travellers compared with passive travellers ^{19,23,26,43,47,51,52,54,63,76} (Fig. 1.1).

Some of these studi...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• About the Editor
• About the Authors
• Preface
• 1. Public Health Benefits of Active Transportation
• 2. Environmental Benefits of Active Transportation
• 3. Economic Benefits of Active Transportation
• 4. Last Child Walking?—Prevalence and Trends in Active Transportation
• 5. Children’s Independent Mobility
• 6. An Ecological Model of Active Transportation
• 7. Individual Correlates of Active Transportation
• 8. Interpersonal Correlates of Active Transportation
• 9. Community Factors Related to Active Transportation
• 10. Built and Physical Environment Correlates of Active Transportation
• 11. Public Policy and Active Transportation
• 12. Prevalence and Correlates of Active Transportation in Developing Countries
• 13. Safe Routes to School (SRTS)
• 14. School Travel Plans
• 15. Walking School Buses and Bicycle Trains
• 16. Taming Traffic to Encourage Children’s Active Transportation
• 17. Active Transportation—Is the School Hiding the Forest?
• 18. Conclusion
• Glossary
• Index