| The percent of children who walk or bike (active commute) to school in the United States has dropped from 48% in 1969 to only 13% of students today. Rates of obesity among children have tripled during this period. Public health advocates have identified active commuting to school as a strategy that may increase children's daily energy expenditure. However, the ability of a school's potential to include active commuting can only be properly understood if attributes of the built environment are assessed. Based on a student travel behavior survey of 18,713 responses from 105 schools in Massachusetts, a multilevel model was used to investigate the effects of route, neighborhood, and school characteristics on walking to school. The model results suggest that the built environment affects prevalence of walking to school. Specifically, short routes along less-trafficked streets with mixed land use are associated with the increased odds of children walking to school. |
