Predictors of children's excess walking to school: A case study in Turkey

Keywords: active school travel, GIS, spatial regression, children's walking, safe routes to school
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Increasing obesity rates among children continue to fuel research on effective means to promote active school travel (AST). An important, yet understudied, aspect of this are children’s route choices during AST. The purpose of this research was to understand differences in home-school walking behaviour when walking alone or with someone. Using survey data from a sample (n = 374) of children (aged 11-15) and parents, we examined the reported reasons and objective neighbourhood factors influencing the propensity for selecting route detours while walking to school in Istanbul, Turkey. Descriptive analysis confirmed accompanied children engaged in more excess travel then their counterparts, and was spatially clustered. The spatial error models proved strongest, and showed notable associations among children’s age, health, and gender on excess walking for both groups. Parental attitudes concerning greenspace had a positive impact on unaccompanied children’s walking. The results provide new insights on how to encourage additional walking behavior for school-based trips.