Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years
Active school travel (AST) confers considerable health and environmental benefits. While evidence on AST associates for older children, and in relation to the physical built environment, has grown significantly over time, less is known regarding AST associates in younger children and socio-environme...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198224000125 |
| _version_ | 1797320898355658752 |
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| author | Melody Smith Yijun Zhang Hayley McGlashan Fainu Alana Cavadino Jinfeng Zhao Susan Morton Debbie Hopkins Harriette Carr Terryann Clark |
| author_facet | Melody Smith Yijun Zhang Hayley McGlashan Fainu Alana Cavadino Jinfeng Zhao Susan Morton Debbie Hopkins Harriette Carr Terryann Clark |
| author_sort | Melody Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Active school travel (AST) confers considerable health and environmental benefits. While evidence on AST associates for older children, and in relation to the physical built environment, has grown significantly over time, less is known regarding AST associates in younger children and socio-environmental associates of AST in this age group. In this research, we seek to determine the relationships between a range of factors across the ecological spectrum and children’s AST at 6 years and at 8 years of age, controlling for maternal education and number of times moved since 4 years. Structural equation modelling was used to identify factors associated with AST at 6 years. Due to the poor overall fit for the 8 year SEM model, a path model was instead performed to explore the direct relationships between AST and other observed variables. At both 6 and 8 years, importance of living close to schools had a significant and positive relationship with AST (standardised estimates = 0.31 and 0.19 respectively, both p < 0.001), and a significant negative relationship with AST was found for perceived distance to schools (estimates = -0.46 and −0.47 respectively, both p < 0.001). At 8 years, negative associations with AST were detected for parent/caregiver involvement with school (-0.071, p = 0.099) and children being of Pacific ethnicity (-0.100, p = 0.030). Distance remains the overriding factor associated with AST in young children – efforts to ensure children have easy access to, and are supported to attend, schools in close proximity to home are warranted. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:49:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7c889673f69b47e7a27aa0b4c7d2e024 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-1982 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:49:43Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| spelling | doaj.art-7c889673f69b47e7a27aa0b4c7d2e0242024-02-08T05:17:04ZengElsevierTransportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives2590-19822024-01-0123101026Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 yearsMelody Smith0Yijun Zhang1Hayley McGlashan Fainu2Alana Cavadino3Jinfeng Zhao4Susan Morton5Debbie Hopkins6Harriette Carr7Terryann Clark8School of Nursing, The University of Auckland, New Zealand; Corresponding author.School of Nursing, The University of Auckland, New ZealandFaculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, New ZealandSchool of Population Health, The University of Auckland, New ZealandSchool of Nursing, The University of Auckland, New ZealandSchool of Population Health, The University of Auckland, New Zealand; University of Technology Sydney, AustraliaUniversity of Oxford, United KingdomPublic Health Agency, Manatū Hauora (Ministry of Health), New ZealandSchool of Nursing, The University of Auckland, New ZealandActive school travel (AST) confers considerable health and environmental benefits. While evidence on AST associates for older children, and in relation to the physical built environment, has grown significantly over time, less is known regarding AST associates in younger children and socio-environmental associates of AST in this age group. In this research, we seek to determine the relationships between a range of factors across the ecological spectrum and children’s AST at 6 years and at 8 years of age, controlling for maternal education and number of times moved since 4 years. Structural equation modelling was used to identify factors associated with AST at 6 years. Due to the poor overall fit for the 8 year SEM model, a path model was instead performed to explore the direct relationships between AST and other observed variables. At both 6 and 8 years, importance of living close to schools had a significant and positive relationship with AST (standardised estimates = 0.31 and 0.19 respectively, both p < 0.001), and a significant negative relationship with AST was found for perceived distance to schools (estimates = -0.46 and −0.47 respectively, both p < 0.001). At 8 years, negative associations with AST were detected for parent/caregiver involvement with school (-0.071, p = 0.099) and children being of Pacific ethnicity (-0.100, p = 0.030). Distance remains the overriding factor associated with AST in young children – efforts to ensure children have easy access to, and are supported to attend, schools in close proximity to home are warranted.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198224000125Active transportPath analysisSocial environmentChild healthSocio-demographic factors |
| spellingShingle | Melody Smith Yijun Zhang Hayley McGlashan Fainu Alana Cavadino Jinfeng Zhao Susan Morton Debbie Hopkins Harriette Carr Terryann Clark Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives Active transport Path analysis Social environment Child health Socio-demographic factors |
| title | Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years |
| title_full | Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years |
| title_fullStr | Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years |
| title_short | Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years |
| title_sort | socio environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years |
| topic | Active transport Path analysis Social environment Child health Socio-demographic factors |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198224000125 |
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