Correlates of Walking to School and Implications for Public Policies: Survey Results from Parents of Elementary School Children in Austin, Texas

• Published in: Journal of public health policy Vol. 30; no. S1; pp. S177 - S202
• Main Authors: Zhu, Xuemei, Lee, Chanam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Palgrave Macmillan 01.01.2009; Palgrave Macmillan UK
• Subjects: Adolescent; Austin; Buildings; Buses; Child; Children; Commuting; Constraints; Data Collection; Educational Programs; Elementary school students; Elementary Schools; Environment Design; Environmental aspects; Environmental changes; Environmental Factors; Environmental policy; Equality and Human Rights; Female; Health Policy; Health Status Disparities; Highways; Humans; Intervention; Male; Medical Sociology; Motor Activity; Neighborhood schools; Odds Ratio; Ownership; Parents; Parents & parenting; Pedestrian traffic; Peers; Polls & surveys; Psychometrics; Public Health; Public Policy; Safety; School busing; School surveys; Schools; Schools - statistics & numerical data; Schools and Youth; Social Factors; Social Justice; Social Marketing; Social Policy; Social Sciences; Sociodemographic Factors; Socioeconomic Status; Socioeconomics; Sociology; Students - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Texas; Transportation; Travel; Walking; Texas; United States > US; Austin Texas; environment; school; children; disparity; walking; policy
• ISSN: 0197-5897; 1745-655X
• DOI: 10.1057/jphp.2008.51

Walking can be a healthy, sustainable, and equitable mode of transportation, but is not widely used for children's school travel. This study identifies multi-level correlates of walking to/from school and relevant policy implications. We surveyed parents/guardians of 2,695 students from 19 elementary schools in Austin, Texas, which featured diverse sociodemographic and environmental characteristics. Among the personal and social factors, negative correlates were parents' education, car ownership, personal barriers, and school bus availability; positive correlates were parents' and children's positive attitude and regular walking behavior, and supportive peer influences. Of physical environmental factors, the strongest negative correlates were distance and safety concerns, followed by the presence of highways/freeways, convenience stores, office buildings, and bus stops en route. Our findings suggest that society should give high priority to lower socioeconomic status populations and to multi-agency policy interventions that facilitate environmental changes, safety improvements, and educational programs targeting both parents and children.