Systematic Review of Active Travel to School Surveillance in the United States And Canada
PDF
HTML

Keywords

active travel to school
active transportation
surveillance system
school commutes
physical activity

How to Cite

Wolfe, M., McDonald, N. ., Ussery, E., George, S., & Watson, K. . (2021). Systematic Review of Active Travel to School Surveillance in the United States And Canada. Journal of Healthy Eating and Active Living, 1(3), 138–153. https://doi.org/10.51250/jheal.v1i3.24

Abstract

Active travel to school is one way youth can incorporate physical activity into their daily schedule. It is unclear the extent to which active travel to school is systematically monitored at local, state, or national levels. To determine the extent of active travel to school surveillance in North America and catalog the types of measures captured, we conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature documenting active travel to school surveillance published from 2004 to February 2018. A study was included if it addressed children’s school travel mode across two or more time-periods in North America. Criteria were applied to determine whether a data source was considered an active travel to school surveillance system. We identified 15 unique data sources; 4 of these met our surveillance system criteria. One system is conducted in the US, is nationally representative, and occurs every 5-8 years. Three are conducted in Canada, are limited geographically to regions and provinces, and are administered with greater frequency (e.g., 2-year cycles).  School travel mode was the primary measure assessed, most commonly through parent report. None of the systems collected data on school policies or program supports related to active travel to school. We conclude that incorporating questions related to active travel to school behaviors into existing surveillance systems, and maintaining them over time, would enable more consistent monitoring. Concurrently capturing behavioral information along with related environmental, policy, and program supports may inform efforts to promote active travel to school.

https://doi.org/10.51250/jheal.v1i3.24
PDF
HTML

References

Beck, L. F., & Nguyen, D. D. (2017). School transportation mode, by distance between home and school, United States, ConsumerStyles 2012. Journal of Safety Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2017.04.001

Blomberg, R. D., Cleven, A. M., Thomas, F. D., Peck, R. C., & Dunlap and Associates, I. (2009). Evaluation of the Safety Benefits of Legacy Safe Routes to School Programs (p. 2p). United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/1850

Buliung, R. N., Mitra, R., & Faulkner, G. (2009). Active school transportation in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada: An exploration of trends in space and time (1986-2006). Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.03.001

Carlson, J. A., Sallis, J. F., Kerr, J., Conway, T. L., Cain, K., Frank, L. D., & Saelens, B. E. (2014). Built environment characteristics and parent active transportation are associated with active travel to school in youth age 12-15. British Journal of Sports Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2013-093101

Chriqui, J. F., Taber, D. R., Slater, S. J., Turner, L., Lowrey, K. M. G., & Chaloupka, F. J. (2012). The impact of state safe routes to school-related laws on active travel to school policies and practices in U.S. elementary schools. Health and Place. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.08.006

Colley, M., & Buliung, R. N. (2016). Gender Differences in School and Work Commuting Mode Through the Life Cycle: Exploring Trends in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, 1986 to 2011. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. https://doi.org/10.3141/2598-12

Community Preventive Services Task Force, T. (2018). Physical Activity: Interventions to Increase Active Travel to School Community Preventive Services Task Force Finding and Rationale Statement. https://www.thecommunityguide.org/sites/default/files/assets/PA-Active-Travel-School.pdf

Covidence systematic review software. (n.d.). Veritas Health Innovation. www.covidence.org

DiMaggio, C., Brady, J., & Li, G. (2015). Association of the Safe Routes to School program with school-age pedestrian and bicyclist injury risk in Texas. Injury Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-015-0038-3

DiMaggio, C., Frangos, S., & Li, G. (2016). National Safe Routes to School program and risk of school-age pedestrian and bicyclist injury. Annals of Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.04.002

Dimaggio, C., & Li, G. (2013). Effectiveness of a safe routes to school program in preventing school-aged pedestrian injury. Pediatrics, 131(2), 290–296. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2012-2182

Federal Highway Administration. (2008). NHTS BRIEF: National Household Travel Survey. https://nhts.ornl.gov/briefs/Travel To School.pdf

Federal Highway Administration. (2019a). Children’s Travel to School 2017 National Household Travel Survey. In FHWA NHTS Brief. https://nhts.ornl.gov/assets/FHWA_NHTS_ Brief_Traveltoschool_032519.pdf

Federal Highway Administration. (2019b). National Household Travel Survey. https://nhts.ornl.gov/

Fulton, J. E., & Carlson, S. A. (2012). Physical activity and public health practice. In B. E. Ainsworth & C. A. Macera (Eds.), Physical activity and public health practice (pp. 212–235). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/b11718

Gutierrez, N., Orenstein, M., Orenstein, M., Cooper MSW Assistant Director, J., Rice, T., Ragland, D. R., & Adjunct professor, M. (2008). Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Effects of California Safe Routes to School Program. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/38v7z45z

Ham, S. A., Martin, S., & Kohl, H. W. (2008). Changes in the percentage of students who walk or bike to school-United States, 1969 and 2001. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 5(2), 205–215. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18382030

Hinckson, E. A., & Badland, H. M. (2011). School travel plans: Preliminary evidence for changing school-related travel patterns in elementary school children. American Journal of Health Promotion. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.090706-ARB-217

Kann, L., McManus, T., Harris, W., & et al. (2018). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance-United States 2017. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 67(8), 1–479. https://doi.org/10.1144/jmpaleo2015-007

Larsen, K., Gilliland, J., Hess, P., Tucker, P., Irwin, J., & He, M. (2009). The Influence of the Physical Environment and Sociodemographic Characteristics on Children’s Mode of Travel to and From School. American Journal of Public Health, 99(3), 520–526. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.135319

Lau, E. Y., Faulkner, G., Riazi, N., Qian, W., & Leatherdale, S. T. (2017). An examination of how changing patterns of school travel mode impact moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among adolescents over time. Journal of Transport and Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.03.011

Lavoie, M., Burigusa, G., Maurice, P., Hamel, D., & Turmel. (2014). Active and safe transportation of elementary-school students: Comparative analysis of the risks of injury associated with children travelling by car, walking and cycling between home and school. Chronic Diseases and Injuries in Canada.

Leatherdale, S. T., Brown, K. S., Carson, V., Childs, R. A., Dubin, J. A., Elliott, S. J., Faulkner, G., Hammond, D., Manske, S., Sabiston, C. M., Laxer, R. E., Bredin, C., & Thompson-Haile, A. (2014). The COMPASS study: a longitudinal hierarchical research platform for evaluating natural experiments related to changes in school-level programs, policies and built environment resources. BMC Public Health, 14, 331. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-331

Mammen, G., Stone, M. R., Faulkner, G., Ramanathan, S., Buliung, R., O’Brien, C., & Kennedy, J. (2014). Active school travel: An evaluation of the Canadian school travel planning intervention. Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.12.008

Martin, S., & Carlson, S. (2005). Barriers to children walking to or from school - United States, 2004. In Journal of the American Medical Association. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.294.17.2160

McDonald, N., Brown, A., Marchetti, L., & Pedroso, M. (2011). U.S. School Travel 2009: An Assessment of Trends. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 41(2), 146–151.

McDonald, N. C. (2007a). Active Transportation to School. Trends Among U.S. Schoolchildren, 1969-2001. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2007.02.022

McDonald, N. C. (2007b). Active Transportation to School. Trends Among U.S. Schoolchildren, 1969-2001. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32(6), 509–516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2007.02.022

McDonald, N. C. (2012). Is there a gender gap in school travel? An examination of US children and adolescents. Journal of Transport Geography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2011.07.005

McDonald, N. C., McGrane, A. B., Rodgman, E. A., Steiner, R. L., Palmer, W. M., & Lytle, B. F. (2014). Assessing multimodal school travel safety in North Carolina. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 74, 126–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2014.10.006

McDonald, N. C., Steiner, R. L., Lee, C., Smith, T. R., Zhu, X., & Yang, Y. (2014). Impact of the safe routes to school program on walking and bicycling. Journal of the American Planning Association. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2014.956654

McDonald, N. C., Yang, Y., Abbott, S. M., & Bullock, A. N. (2013). Impact of the Safe Routes to School program on walking and biking: Eugene, Oregon study. Transport Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2013.06.007

McKee, R., Mutrie, N., Crawford, F., & Green, B. (2007). Promoting walking to school: Results of a quasi-experimental trial. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2006.048181

Mendoza, J. A., Watson, K., Nguyen, N., Cerin, E., Baranowski, T., & Nicklas, T. A. (2011). Active commuting to school and association with physical activity and adiposity among US youth. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 8(4), 488–495. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21597121

Mitra, R., Papaioannou, E. M., & Habib, K. M. N. (2016). Past and Present of Active School Transportation: An Exploration of the Built Environment Effects in Toronto, Canada from 1986 to 2006. Journal of Transport and Land Use. https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2015.537

Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. (2009). Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Med 6(6): e1000097. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed1. PLoS Med, 6 (7)(4), 264. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00135

Pabayo, R. A., Gauvin, L., Barnett, T. A., Morency, P., Nikiéma, B., & Séguin, L. (2012). Understanding the determinants of active transportation to school among children: Evidence of environmental injustice from the Quebec longitudinal study of child development. Health and Place. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.08.017

Pabayo, R., Gauvin, L., & Barnett, T. A. (2011). Longitudinal Changes in Active Transportation to School in Canadian Youth Aged 6 Through 16 Years. PEDIATRICS. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-1612

Pabayo, Roman. (2010). Investigating Active Transportation to and from School: Identification of Predictors and Health Benefits. In ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

Pabayo, Roman, Gauvin, L., Barnett, T. A., Nikiéma, B., & Séguin, L. (2010). Sustained Active Transportation is associated with a favorable body mass index trajectory across the early school years: Findings from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development birth cohort. Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.08.014

Pate, R. R., Berrigan, D., Buchner, D. M., Carlson, S. A., Dunton, G., Fulton, J. E., Sanchez, E., Troiano, R. P., Whitehead, J., & Whitsel, L. P. (2018). Actions to Improve Physical Activity Surveillance in the United States. NAM Perspectives, 8(9). https://doi.org/10.31478/201809f

Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. (2019). Maelstrom Research. https://www.maelstrom-research.org/mica/individual-study/qlscd

Ragland, D., Pande, S., Bigham, J., & Cooper, J. (2014). Ten Years Later: Examining the Long-term Impact of the California Safe Routes to School Program. Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.3141/2464-11

Rose, A. (2018). Transportation Tomorrow Survey 2016 - Design and Conduct of the Survey. Malatest. http://dmg.utoronto.ca/pdf/tts/2016/2016TTS_Conduct.pdf

Smith, L., Norgate, S. H., Cherrett, T., Davies, N., Winstanley, C., & Harding, M. (2015). Walking School Buses as a Form of Active Transportation for Children-A Review of the Evidence. Journal of School Health. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12239

Thacker, S. B., & Berkelman, R. L. (1988). Public Health Surveillance in the United States. Epidemiologic Reviews, 10(September), 164–190. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3066626

The National Center for Safe Routes to School. (2013). Trends in Walking and Bicycling to School from 2007 to 2012 The National Center for Safe Routes to School. www.saferoutesinfo.org

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2nd editio). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.118.005263

Voss, C., Winters, M., Frazer, A., & McKay, H. (2015). School-travel by public transit: Rethinking active transportation. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2, 65–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2015.01.004

Westat. (2016). NHTS Task C: Sample Design. https://nhts.ornl.gov/2017/pub/Sample_Design.pdf

Westat. (2018). 2017 NHTS Data User Guide. Federal Highway Administration Office of Policy Information. https://nhts.ornl.gov/assets/2017UsersGuide.pdf

Wong, B. Y.-M., Faulkner, G., & Buliung, R. (2011). GIS measured environmental correlates of active school transport: A systematic review of 14 studies. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-8-39

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2021 Mary Wolfe, Noreen McDonald, Emily Ussery, Stephanie George, Kathleen Watson