Impact of information about health and academic benefits on parent perception of the feasibility of active transportation to school

Publication date: Available online 31 August 2018Source: Journal of Transport & HealthAuthor(s): Emma Lucken, Jason Soria, Mary-Ann Niktas, Tonia Wang, Matt Stewart, Ramin NikouiAbstractThe percentage of students walking or biking to school in the United States has fallen drastically over the past decades. This decline has important implications for children’s health, as walking and biking to school result in health benefits, including more physical activity and lower risk of obesity. Influencing parents to consider active transportation to school (ATS) is a necessary step in behavior change. Our research examines the impact of providing parents with information about the health and academic benefits of ATS on parent perception of ATS feasibility. Parents given information about ATS benefits were hypothesized to perceive ATS as more feasible, as measured by responding that there is an additional morning or afternoon during the week when their child could walk or bike to or from school. Treatment and control surveys were distributed to parents with children attending elementary school in Alameda County and Richmond, California. Discrete choice models developed from this data indicated that information about ATS benefits did not have a significant effect on parent perception of ATS feasibility. The two models provided further insight into ATS behavior and parent perception of ATS feasibility. Greater walk time to school, higher parent education levels, lack of sidewalks along...
Source: Journal of Transport and Health - Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research