Abstract
Objectives: Walking or cycling to school represents an opportunity for children to engage in physical activity. The study objectives were to: 1) describe active transportation policies, programs, and built environments of Canadian schools and their surrounding neighbourhoods, and 2) document variations based on urban-rural location and school type (primary vs. secondary vs. mixed primary/secondary schools).
Methods: 397 schools from across Canada were studied. A school administrator completed a questionnaire and responses were used to assess schools’ policies and programs related to active transportation and the safety and aesthetics of their respective neighbourhoods. Built environment features in a 1 km-radius circular buffer around each school were measured using geographic information systems.
Results: Greater than 70% of schools had passive policies (e.g., skateboards permitted on school grounds) and facilities (e.g., bicycle racks in secure area to avoid theft) to encourage bicycle and small-wheeled vehicle use. Less than 40% of schools had active programs designed to encourage active transportation, such as organized ‘walk to school’ days. Garbage in the streets, crime and substance abuse were barriers in most school neighbourhoods. Approximately 42% of schools were located on high-speed roads not amenable to active transportation and 14% did not have a sidewalk leading to the school. Secondary schools had less favourable active transportation policies/programs and neighbourhood safety/aesthetics compared to primary schools. Rural schools had less favourable built environments than urban schools.
Conclusion: Canadian children, particularly those from rural areas, face a number of impediments to active transportation as a method of travelling to school.
Keywords: Walking, bicycling, schools, environment, policy
Résumé
Objectifs: La marche et le vélo sont des occasions pour les enfants de faire de l’activité physique. Les objectifs de cette étude sont de: 1) décrire les politiques et les programmes de transport actif, l’environnement bâti et les quartiers environnants des écoles canadiennes et 2) documenter les variations basées sur l’emplacement urbain ou rural et le genre d’école (primaire, secondaire ou mixte primaire/secondaire).
Méthode: Nous avons étudié 397 écoles au Canada. Dans chaque école, un administrateur scolaire a rempli un questionnaire, et ses réponses ont été utilisées pour évaluer les politiques et les programmes de l’école reliés au transport actif, ainsi que la sécurité et l’esthétique du quartier. Les caractéristiques de l’environnement bâti dans une zone de 1 km autour de chaque école ont été mesurées en utilisant des systèmes d’information géographique.
Résultats: Plus de 70 % des écoles avaient des politiques passives (p. ex., autorisation des planches à roulettes sur le terrain de l’école) et/ou des installations passives (p. ex., porte-vélos dans des endroits sécurisés pour prévenir le vol) pour encourager l’utilisation du vélo et des véhicules à petites roues. Moins de 40 % des écoles avaient des programmes spécifiquement conçus pour encourager le transport actif, comme des journées organisées pour marcher à l’école. Les déchets dans la rue, la criminalité et la toxicomanie étaient des obstacles dans la plupart des quartiers environnants. Environ 42 % des écoles étaient situées sur des rues à grande vitesse qui ne conviennent pas au transport actif, et 14 % n’avaient pas de trottoir menant à l’école. Les politiques/programmes et le quartier/la sécurité/l’esthétique étaient moins favorables dans les écoles secondaires que dans les écoles primaires. L’environnement bâti était moins favorable dans les écoles rurales que dans les écoles urbaines.
Conclusion: Les enfants canadiens, particulièrement ceux qui vivent en milieu rural, font face à de nombreux obstacles en ce qui a trait au transport actif comme méthode pour se rendre à l’école.
Motsclés: marche, cyclisme, école, environnement, politique
Footnotes
Acknowledgements: This study was supported by research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (operating grants: MOP 9762 and PCR 101415) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey (HBSC), a World Health Organization European Region collaborative study, was funded in Canada by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada. International Coordinator of the HBSC is Candace Currie (University of Edinburgh). Principal Investigators of the 2009/2010 Canadian HBSC are John Freeman and William Pickett. The authors thank Matthew King, project manager for the Canadian HBSC, and Hana Saab and Don Klinger, who played key roles in the development of the administrators’ questionnaire.
Conflict of Interest: None to declare.
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