Download - Roger Mackett Centre for Transport Studies University College London London, Great Britain
Presentation at the Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference, Victoria BC, 9 September 2004.
Making children healthier through walking
Roger MackettCentre for Transport Studies University College London
London, Great Britain
Methods of travel by children in Great Britain
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
1985/86 2002
OtherCarBicycleWalk
Methods of travel to school in Great Britain
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Age 5-101985/86
Age 5-102002
Age 11-161985/86
Age 11-162002
OtherBusCarBicycleWalk
According to the British National Travel Survey:• Children are making fewer trips• BUT, when they do travel
– they travel further than they used to– they travel more by car than they used to
• Children’s car use is growing faster than adults’
• Most children’s trips are not to or from school• Non-education trips are
– longer than education trips– more likely to be by car
Why should we try to reduce the quantity of children’s car use?• Similar reasons as for everyone else:
– reducing environmental damage– reducing congestion– increasing inclusion, etc, etc
• To increase their quantity of exercise• To reduce their potential long-term health
damage (e.g. through obesity)• To reduce their possible long-term car
dependency
Children are getting fatterAccording to the UK Chief
Medical Officer:8.5% of 6 year olds and 15% of
15 year olds are obeseBetween 1996 and 2001 the
proportion of overweight children increased by 7% and obese children by 3.5%
Reducing children’s car use: the health and potential car
dependency impacts• 3-year project funded by EPSRC under
the FIT programme• Started January 2001• Includes
– Hertfordshire County Council– health experts– an epidemiologist– a health promotion expert
The work packages• Surveys of children and parents, plus
anthropometric measurements • Evaluation of walking buses • Monitoring of children’s activity patterns
using RT3s• Attitudes of teenagers to the car • Effects of car use on children’s cognitive
and mental development
The RT3 motion sensor
An example output from an RT3
0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.55.05.5
07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00
Time of day
Act
ivity
cal
orie
s (k
cal)
A child’s travel and activity diary
I left at :
:
I got there at
:
I travelled there by
Then I went to…
I left at :
:
I got there at
:
I travelled there by
Then I went to…
Peter’s house
Walked
15 20Played on the computer then played football
18 40
Home
Car
19 00 Watched TV and went to bed
The numbers of children involvedMale Female Total
Year 6(age 10-11)
54 58 112
Year 8(age 12-13)
42 41 83
Total 96 99 195Five other children did not supply enough information tobe included
Children’s activities • School• Structured out-of-home activities (clubs and tuition)• Unstructured out-of-home activities (playing)• Out-on-trips to activities with parents• At their own home• At other people’s homes• Travel• Other (physical work and waiting)
Disaggregation of activities
Structured activities(clubs and tuition)• Structured ball
games• Other structured
sport• Organisations• Tuition
Unstructured activities(playing)• Unstructured ball
games• Other unstructured
sport• Other outdoor play
Trips per week to various activities
Walk Car Other TotalSchool 2.6 1.4 0.5 4.6Clubs & tuition 0.3 0.8 0.0 1.2Playing 0.7 0.4 0.0 1.2Out on trips 0.6 1.7 0.2 2.4Other homes 1.5 1.4 0.2 3.1Other 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.7Total 5.9 6.1 1.1 13.1
Trips per week to various activities
Walk Car Other TotalSchool 2.6 1.4 0.5 4.6Clubs & tuition 0.3 0.8 0.0 1.2Playing 0.7 0.4 0.0 1.2Out on trips 0.6 1.7 0.2 2.4Other homes 1.5 1.4 0.2 3.1Other 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.7Total 5.9 6.1 1.1 13.1
Children’s changing time use
Comparison of 3600 US children in 1997 with a similar survey in 1981 shows:
• A reduction of 3 hours a week in unstructured play
• Over the same period, time spent in organized sport more than doubled
(National Institute of Child Health and Development in the US)
Intensity of activities by children (activity calories per minute)
Activity IntensitySchool 1.0Clubs and tuition 1.7Playing 2.2Out on trips 1.1Own home 0.6Other homes 0.9Travel 1.6Other 1.1Overall 0.9
Intensity of travel by children (activity calories per minute)
Mode of travel IntensityWalking 2.3Car 1.0Bicycle 1.7Bus 1.5Overall 1.6
Intensity of children’s travel (activity calories per minute)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Year 6 boys Year 6 girls Year 8 boys Year 8 girls
CarBusWalkBicycle
Energy used in a week in school travel compared with PE/games
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Year 6 boys Year 6 girls Year 8 boys Year 8 girls
CarBusWalkBicyclePE/games
Intensity of activities classified by method of travel used
Walk CarPE and games 3.5 2.4Other lessons 0.6 0.5School break 2.0 1.7Clubs & tuition 1.7 1.6Playing 2.4 2.0Out on trips 1.5 1.0Other homes 1.1 0.8Overall 1.7 1.3
What is a walking bus?
Assessing the effectiveness of walking buses
• Postal survey of all primary schools in Hertfordshire
• Monitoring of five walking buses over time, collecting data from:– headteachers, co-ordinators, volunteers– children and parents (including former users)
• Assembly of data within a systematic framework
Walking buses in Hertfordshire
Schools Routes
Number at Spring 1998 1 1
Number registered atJanuary 2002
41 68
Number active at January2003
22 26
Why have walking buses ceased operation?
Number %
Lack of volunteers 9 75Too few children 5 42Lack of a co-ordinator 3 25Bad weather 1 8Lack of incentives 1 8
Headteachers’ objectives in setting up walking buses(based on 22 schools in Hertfordshire)
NoReduce congestion at the school entrance 20Give the children more exercise 12Increase walking to school 7Reduce car use to school 2Ensure children reach school on time 2
Achievement of objectivesTotal Objective
achieved?Yes In part
Successrate%
Reducecongestion
20 10 4 60
More exercise 12 9 1 79More walking 7 3 1 50Less car use 2 3 - 100Punctuality 2 1 1 75Total 50 28 9 65
Shift from cars(based on data from 11 schools)
• Number of children = 172• Number of children who used to travel by
car = 107• % who used to travel by car = 62%• Range of % shift: 31% to 100%• Note: not all children previously travelled
by car every day and not all use the walking bus every day
Car use and walking bus useHow often is a car trip made at
the time of the journey to school?Mode usedbefore usingthe walkingbus
Every day Some days Not used
Car 11 1 0
Mixture 0 10 0
Walk 0 0 16
Implications of the shift from cars
• Reduction in the number of children’s trips to school by car seems to be about half the number on the walking bus
• For Hertfordshire, with 26 walking buses, this implies a reduction of about 130 trips a day
• But the reduction in the number of cars on the road is close to zero
The nature of trips to school by car (%)
Trip made solely to take child to school 28Child dropped off in course of trip towork
47
Child dropped off in course of trip toanother school or nursery
15
Child dropped off in course of trip toanother destination
7
Not answered 4Total 100
Young adults (aged 16-19)• See the car as the mode of choice for most trips• See learning to drive as something they should
do as soon as possible• See the ability to drive as a means of obtaining
independence from parents• Parents support their children in becoming car
users because it relieves their own concerns about their children’s safety
Conclusions• Children’s car use is increasing rapidly and they
are walking less• This has various implications, especially for their
health through physical activity• Children’s activity levels over a day can be
measured • Walking to school can provide significant
quantities of exercise – comparable in scale to PE lessons
More conclusions
• Children are least active when they are at home
• The shift from unstructured to structured out-of-home activities has led to less walking
• Children who walk to activities are more active when they arrive than those who travel by car
More conclusions• Walking buses have grown rapidly but are liable to
collapse without on-going support • Walking buses are perceived to be effective
– about half the trips on them were previously made by car
• Few car trips to school are made solely for that purpose– hence getting children out of cars will not do much
to reduce traffic
To improve children’s health, we need to:
• Get them out of the house more• Get them walking more• Support walking initiatives• Encourage children to play in the
street instead of taking them to clubs etc
For more information:
• http://www.cts.ucl.ac.uk/research/chcaruse/
• E-mail: [email protected]• Phone: 00 44 20 7679 1554
Suggestions for further dissemination welcome