Increasing active travel to school: Are we on the right track? A cluster randomised controlled trial from Sydney, Australia

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：Li Ming Wen ; Denise Fry ; Dafna Merom ; Chris Rissel ; Helen Dirkis ; Angela Balafas
• 关键词：Active travel ; Walk to school ; Evaluation ; Health promotion
• 刊名：Preventive Medicine
• 出版年：2008
• 出版时间：December 2008
• 年：2008
• 卷：47
• 期：6
• 页码：612-618
• 全文大小：392 K

文摘

Objective

To evaluate the effectiveness of a program to increase walking to and from school.

Design

A cluster randomised controlled trial.

Setting

24 primary public schools in inner west Sydney, Australia.

Participants

1996 students aged 10–12 years and their parents.

Intervention

A two-year multi-component program included classroom activities, development of school Travel Access Guides, parent newsletters and improving environments with local councils.

Measures

Two measures were used: a survey completed by students on how they travelled to and from school over five days, and a survey completed by their parents on how their child travelled to and from school in a usual week.

Results

The percentage of students who walked to and from school increased in both the intervention and control schools. Data from parent surveys found that 28.8 % of students in the intervention group increased their walking, compared with 19 % in the control group (a net increase of 9.8 % , p = 0.05). However this effect was not evident in the student data.

Conclusion

The study produced a mixed result, with a high variation in travel patterns from school to school. Intervention research should address the complexity of multiple factors influencing student travel to school with a focus on changing local environments and parents' travel to work.