TY - JOUR
T1 - Individual, parental and built environmental features as influencing factors of active travel to school in northeast China
T2 - Findings from a cross-sectional study
AU - Wang, Yinuo
AU - Liu, Yang
AU - Song, Shenzhi
AU - Gittelsohn, Joel
AU - Ouellette, Miranda
AU - Ma, Yanan
AU - Wen, Deliang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 SAE International. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/1/24
Y1 - 2022/1/24
N2 - Objectives Active travel to school (ATS)-associated factors had been studied in some developed countries but rarely in China. We studied the associated factors of ATS at individual, parental and built environment domains in northeast China. Design and participants A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 4-6 grade students in 2017. Sociodemographic features and information of parents were collected using questionnaires, and SuperMap (a geographical information system software) was used to catch built environment features. Logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between multilevel factors and ATS. Results Our study sample comprised 3670 primary school students aged from 8 to 15 (boys=51.0%, ATS=48.8%). Perceived to be fat (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.55, p<0.05), feeling easy to walk for a short distance (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.21 to 2.20, p<0.05), mother unemployed (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.06, p<0.05), higher land use mix (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.37, p<0.001) and higher density of public transport stations (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.37, p<0.05) were positively associated with increased possibility of ATS, while higher household annual income (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.83, p<0.05) and possession of private vehicles (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.69, p<0.001) were negatively associated with possibility of ATS. Conclusions The significant factors associated with ATS were at every examined level, which implies multilevel interventions are needed to encourage ATS. Further interventions could focus on the children's willingness to lead students to opt for healthy behaviours, and children from wealthier families should be encouraged to choose ATS. Also, the government should improve built environment walkability so as to encourage ATS.
AB - Objectives Active travel to school (ATS)-associated factors had been studied in some developed countries but rarely in China. We studied the associated factors of ATS at individual, parental and built environment domains in northeast China. Design and participants A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 4-6 grade students in 2017. Sociodemographic features and information of parents were collected using questionnaires, and SuperMap (a geographical information system software) was used to catch built environment features. Logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between multilevel factors and ATS. Results Our study sample comprised 3670 primary school students aged from 8 to 15 (boys=51.0%, ATS=48.8%). Perceived to be fat (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.55, p<0.05), feeling easy to walk for a short distance (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.21 to 2.20, p<0.05), mother unemployed (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.06, p<0.05), higher land use mix (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.37, p<0.001) and higher density of public transport stations (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.37, p<0.05) were positively associated with increased possibility of ATS, while higher household annual income (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.83, p<0.05) and possession of private vehicles (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.69, p<0.001) were negatively associated with possibility of ATS. Conclusions The significant factors associated with ATS were at every examined level, which implies multilevel interventions are needed to encourage ATS. Further interventions could focus on the children's willingness to lead students to opt for healthy behaviours, and children from wealthier families should be encouraged to choose ATS. Also, the government should improve built environment walkability so as to encourage ATS.
KW - community child health
KW - epidemiology
KW - public health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123905921&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047816
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047816
M3 - Article
C2 - 35074806
AN - SCOPUS:85123905921
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 12
JO - BMJ open
JF - BMJ open
IS - 1
M1 - e047816
ER -