Neighborhood walkability and objectively measured active transportation among 10-13 year olds

Current active transportation literature within children is based almost exclusively on questionnaire measures of the trip to school. This literature suggests that the walkability of the built environment can influence active transportation to school. The purpose of this study was to use objective measures to examine the relationship between neighborhood walkability and children's active transportation to school and other destinations. This was a cross-sectional study of 367 children and early adolescents (aged 10-13 years) from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Participants wore a Garmin Forerunner 220 GPS watch during waking hours for seven consecutive days. Personal Activity Measurement Location System (PALMS) software used the GPS data to identify trips, and for each trip the time spent in that trip and the trip modality (active or passive). GIS measures of connectivity, proximity to destinations, and pedestrian infrastructure and safety were used to create a walkability index. Participants living in the neighborhoods with the highest walkability quartile spent an average of 16.2 min/day (95% CI: 11.8, 22.4) in active transportation while those in the lowest walkability quartile spent an average of 7.1 min/day (95% CI: 5.0, 10.4) in active transportation. Consistent patterns between walkability and active transportation were observed in age, sex, and season of study subgroups. An increase in active transportation minutes was seen across walkability quartiles for all of the most common active travel destinations (i.e., home, school, other people's homes). In conclusion, in this study of 10-13 year olds, those living in the most walkable neighborhoods accumulated more than twice as much active transportation than those living in the least walkable neighborhoods.