Evaluation and Optimization of Walkability of Children’s School Travel Road for Accessibility and Safety Improvement

(1) Background: In the context of a children friendly city, accessibility and safety are the basic needs of children’s pedestrian school travel. This study proposes a comprehensive evaluation method of pedestrian accessibility and safety for children’s school travel. (2) Methods: Firstly, the school travel network was constructed by simulating the path of children walking to school. Secondly, from the meso and micro dimensions, the impact factors of pedestrian accessibility and safety were combed out, and an evaluation index system was constructed. Finally, pedestrian accessibility and safety were evaluated based on the Space Syntax analysis and ArcGIS spatial analysis, and the results were superimposed and spatially differentiated. The new evaluation method was tested in the Jintang Road area in Hedong District, Tianjin, China. (3) Results: The pedestrian accessibility and safety of children’s school travel road in the study area needed to be improved. It was found that the main impact factors were the effective walking width, the spatial connectivity, the visual integration, the obstruction of pedestrian safety, the completeness of crossing facilities and the influence of traffic flow and put forward optimization strategies. After optimized simulation verification, the overall improvement was achieved. (4) Conclusion: The evaluation method is helpful to calculate the pedestrian accessibility and safety of children’s school travel, and help decision makers determine the design and management strategies of child-friendly streets.

Evaluation of Walking Comfort in Children’s School Travel at Street Scale: A Case Study in Tianjin (China)

(1) Background: school travel is an important part of a child’s daily activities. A comfortable walking environment can encourage children to walk to school. The existing methods of evaluating walking environments are not specific to children’s walks to school. (2) Methods: this study proposes a method of evaluating walking comfort in children traveling to school at street scale. Related indexes were selected that reflect children’s school travel behavior and their needs in street environments based on walking environment audit tools. Factor analysis was then used to calculate the relative weight of each index. (3) Results: the new evaluation method was tested in the neighborhoods around the First Central Primary School in Hedong District, Tianjin, China. The walking comfort for children’s school travel was evaluated in eight indexes: effective street width; street flatness; street cleanliness; interface diversity; buffer; shade coverage; green looking ratio; and sound decibels. Different classes and types of streets were found to have various vulnerabilities. (4) Conclusions: this evaluation method can accurately locate the weak spots in streets to improve the local policymakers’ perception of street environments, which can greatly facilitate the implementation of precise measures to promote children walking to school.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in school settings during the second COVID-19 wave: a cross-sectional study, Berlin, Germany, November 2020

Background School attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic is intensely debated. Aim In November 2020, we assessed SARS-CoV-2 infections and seroreactivity in 24 randomly selected school classes and connected households in Berlin, Germany. Methods We collected oro-nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples, examining SARS-CoV-2 infection and IgG antibodies by RT-PCR and ELISA. Household members self-swabbed. We assessed individual and institutional prevention measures. Classes with SARS-CoV-2 infection and connected households were retested after 1 week. Results We examined 1,119 participants, including 177 primary and 175 secondary school students, 142 staff and 625 household members. SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred in eight classes, affecting each 1–2 individuals. Infection prevalence was 2.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.2–5.0; 9/338), 1.4% (95% CI: 0.2–5.1; 2/140), and 2.3% (95% CI: 1.3–3.8; 14/611) among students, staff and household members. Six of nine infected students were asymptomatic at testing. We detected IgG antibodies in 2.0% (95%CI: 0.8–4.1; 7/347), 1.4% (95% CI: 0.2–5.0; 2/141) and 1.4% (95% CI: 0.6–2.7; 8/576). Prevalence increased with inconsistent facemask-use in school, walking to school, and case-contacts outside school. For three of nine households with infection(s), origin in school seemed possible. After 1 week, no school-related secondary infections appeared in affected classes; the attack rate in connected households was 1.1%. Conclusion School attendance under rigorously implemented preventive measures seems reasonable. Balancing risks and benefits of school closures need to consider possible spill-over infection into households. Deeper insight is required into the infection risks due to being a schoolchild vs attending school.

The Effect of Route Choice in Children’s Exposure to Ultrafine Particles Whilst Walking to School

Children walking to school are at a high risk of exposure to air pollution compared with other modes because of the time they spend in close proximity to traffic during their commute. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a walker’s route choice on their exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) on the walk to school. During morning commutes over a period of three weeks, exposure to UFP was measured along three routes: two routes were alongside both sides of a busy arterial road with significantly higher levels of traffic on one side compared to the other, and the third route passed through quiet streets (the background route). The results indicate that the mean exposure for the pedestrian walking along the background route was half the exposure experienced on the other two routes. Walkers on the trafficked side were exposed to elevated concentrations (>100,000 pt/cc) 2.5 times longer than the low-trafficked side. However, the duration of the elevated exposure for the background route was close to zero. Public health officials and urban planners may use the results of this study to promote healthier walking routes to schools, especially those planned as part of organized commutes.

Gender Difference in Health Condition Among Emirati Adolescent: Role of Environment and Parent Perceptions

Background: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the developed nations in the middle-east with the obesity rate among the youth two to three times greater than the international standards. Therefore, this research aims to study the variation of perception of the built environment among Emirati male and female adolescents and their parents. Also, the role of determinants of the health condition of Emirati adolescents is analyzed. Method: A total of 335 students (aged 14-20) from six schools in the Al Ain region of Abu Dhabi Emirate and 250 parent responses were used to conduct the mean-test of perception of hindrances and multinomial logit of the health condition using the perception, behavior and built environment measures. Results: Emirati males perceive the built environment factors as barriers more than female adolescents. Parents perceive street-crossing (p<0.016) and sidewalk characteristics (p<0.020) to be more of a hindrance to walking to school than students. Traffic exposure and walkability at home and schools report a significant effect on the health condition of the Emirati adolescents along with the self-reported physical activity. Marginal effect reports sedentary and low-levels of activity predicts the probability of an Emirati adolescent being not just overweight or obese (p<0.001), but also underweight (p<0.05)Conclusion: Recommendations for parents and school authorities, Abu Dhabi Municipality and Urban Planning department, and to enhance the built environment are discussed. Also recommendation to address both, levels of obesity and being underweight, are discussed.

School travel and children’s physical activity: a cross-sectional study examining the influence of distance

Background Walking to school is associated with higher levels of physical activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school travel mode and physical activity using a sampling frame that purposefully locates schools in varying neighbourhoods. Methods Cross-sectional survey of 785 children (10.57 ± 0.7 years) in Toronto, Canada. Physical activity was measured by accelerometry and travel mode was self-reported by parents. Linear regression models accounting for school clustering effects examined the associations between mode choice, BMI, and physical activity and were estimated adjusting for age, types of neighbourhoods and travel distance to school. Results Significant associations between walking to school and moderate activity during weekdays were found. Interactions between walking to school and travel distance to school were found only in boys with significant associations between walking to school and higher physical activity levels in those living within 1000–1600 meters from school. Boys walking to school and living in this range accumulated 7.6 more minutes of daily MVPA than boys who were driven. Conclusions Walking to school can make a modest but significant contribution to overall physical activity. This contribution was modified by travel distance and not school neighbourhood socioeconomic status or the built environment.

School travel and children’s physical activity: a cross-sectional study examining the influence of distance

Background Walking to school is associated with higher levels of physical activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school travel mode and physical activity using a sampling frame that purposefully locates schools in varying neighbourhoods. Methods Cross-sectional survey of 785 children (10.57 ± 0.7 years) in Toronto, Canada. Physical activity was measured by accelerometry and travel mode was self-reported by parents. Linear regression models accounting for school clustering effects examined the associations between mode choice, BMI, and physical activity and were estimated adjusting for age, types of neighbourhoods and travel distance to school. Results Significant associations between walking to school and moderate activity during weekdays were found. Interactions between walking to school and travel distance to school were found only in boys with significant associations between walking to school and higher physical activity levels in those living within 1000–1600 meters from school. Boys walking to school and living in this range accumulated 7.6 more minutes of daily MVPA than boys who were driven. Conclusions Walking to school can make a modest but significant contribution to overall physical activity. This contribution was modified by travel distance and not school neighbourhood socioeconomic status or the built environment.

Socioeconomic Status and Route Characteristics in Relation to Children’s Exposure to Air Pollution from Road Traffic While Walking to School in Auckland, New Zealand

Pedestrian exposure to traffic-related air pollution depends on many factors; including the nature of the traffic on nearby roads and the route characteristics. In this study, we investigated the effects of differences in vehicle fleet and transport infrastructure on children’s exposure to traffic-related air pollution during their morning walk to school in Auckland, New Zealand. Five pairs of routes to schools—each including a low and a high socioeconomic status (SES) school—were selected and traversed over 7–8 days for each pair while measuring particle number concentration (PNC) and GPS coordinates. At the same time, a sample of 200 license plates of cars from each school’s neighborhood was captured using videos, and the age of each car was extracted using an online database. Both the mean age of the cars and the percentage of old cars (>14 years) were found to be higher in the low SES areas. However, neither measure of vehicle age was associated with a significant difference in exposure to PNC for pedestrians. Route features including narrow footpaths and a higher density of traffic lights may be associated with higher levels of PNC exposure. These findings provide insight into the role of urban design in promoting healthy commutes to school.

Association between school-based tobacco retailer exposures and young adolescent cigarette, cigar and e-cigarette use

BackgroundAssociations between retail tobacco availability and tobacco use have been mixed. This study examined associations between school-based retail environment exposures and current use of cigarettes, cigar products and e-cigarettes among middle school youth in Cleveland, OH.MethodsRetailers selling tobacco products were identified using the 2015 Cleveland Food Retail Database (n=639 stores). Youth survey data were drawn from the 2016 Cleveland Youth Risk Behavior Survey, administered to all 7th/8th graders across the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (n=3778, response rate=83.0%). Past 30-day cigarette, cigar product and e-cigarette use were assessed. Student demographics, number of days walking to/from school each week and number of times youth stopped at a retailer to/from school each week were included. For each school (n=63), tobacco retail density (TRD) and proximity (TRP) to nearest retailer were calculated for each product. Multiple regression analysis assessed associations between retail exposures and youth tobacco use.ResultsAcross all schools, 3.9%, 10.2% and 8.6% of students currently use cigarettes, cigar products and e-cigarettes, respectively, and 15.2% currently use at least one tobacco product. TRD and TRP were not associated with current use; frequency of walking to school and stopping at retailers were strongly associated with current use.ConclusionsAlthough TRD and TRP were not significantly associated with tobacco product use, youth who reported regularly walking to/from school or who reported stopping at a retail store before/after school were significantly more likely to be a current tobacco product user. This may be due to increased exposure to exterior and point-of-sale marketing.