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: rlm@transport.ucl.ac.uk• Phone: 00 44 20 7679 1554

Suggestions for further dissemination welcome