Citation

Schicketanz J, Röder S, Herberth G, Kabisch S, Lakes T. Child. Geogr. 2022; 20(2): 174-188.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/14733285.2021.1921698

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Children's active school travel can provide a daily source of physical activity, yet the number of children walking or biking to school is decreasing worldwide. This study analyses children's active school travel, its individual, family, socioeconomic and environmental determinants and spatial pattern in Leipzig, Germany. We evaluated the school travel behaviour of 217 eight-year-olds from a prospective birth cohort study called LINA (Lifestyle and Environmental Factors and their Influence on Newborns Allergy Risk). Variables from the LINA questionnaire were combined with data from administrative bodies. We applied logistic regressions to identify the determinants of active travel. Our results show that active school travel decreases from city centre to suburban areas, and that route length, perceived traffic and the residential environment have the greatest influence on which mode of travel is selected. Our findings enable us to suggest improvements in school district delineation in suburban areas that would facilitate active travel.

SR2S

Language: en

Keywords

Active school travel; children’s travel; health geography; physical activity; school journey