Carleton University’s Paul Villeneuve and research associate Susanna Abraham Cottagiri have co-authored a paper in the Canadian Journal of Public Health. The paper titled, Are school-based measures of walkability and greenness associated with modes of commuting to school? provides a cross-sectional analysis of more than 11,000 students aged 11 to 20 who participated in the 2016-17 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey.
In Ontario, a decreasing number of students in elementary and high school have been actively commuting (i.e., walking or biking) to school. Active commuting is important because it provides an opportunity for physical activity, and a large proportion of Canada’s youth does not achieve the recommended levels of physical activity.
The study explores if infrastructure and built environments around schools promote active commuting and increase physical activity, a question that few Canadian studies have examined.
“Our study estimates that only about one in five students actively commute to school,” says Abraham Cottagiri, researcher at Carleton’s School of Mathematics and Statistics.
“It also shows that features of a neighbourhood such as walkability, and urban greenness may play a role in increasing active commuting among students.”
The research findings show troubling trends, namely that few students in Ontario are engaging in active transportation to get to school. Overall, 21 per cent of students reported active commuting to school and this prevalence decreased even further among older students. inversely related with age.
In highly-populated urban areas that are walkable and had a greater amount of green space, students are more likely to engage in active transportation to get to and from school. Findings also suggest that students attending schools with higher Canadian Active Living Environments (Can-ALE) scores are more likely to actively commute to school.
“This shows yet another possible health benefit of making urban areas more walkable and having more natural spaces in them,” said Villeneuve.
This study was a joint project with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Dr. Nancy Ross, a professor at McGill University. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Toronto was also a key player, allowing the researchers to analyze the survey data that they collected.
“It is our hope that our research findings will stimulate a healthy debate on ways to enhance walkability around existing schools and support building new schools in areas that best support active living,” Cottagiri adds.
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Thursday, January 28, 2021 in News Releases
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