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Are school-based measures of walkability and greenness associated with modes of commuting to school? Findings from a student survey in Ontario, Canada

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Abstract

Objectives

In Canada, students are increasingly reliant on motorized vehicles to commute to school, and few meet the recommended overall physical activity guidelines. Infrastructure and built environments around schools may promote active commuting to and from school, thereby increasing physical activity. To date, few Canadian studies have examined this research question.

Methods

This study is a cross-sectional analysis of 11,006 students, aged 11–20, who participated in the 2016/2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey. The remote sensing-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), at a buffer of 500 m from the schools’ locations, was used to characterize greenness, while the 2016 Canadian Active Living Environments (Can-ALE) measure was used for walkability. Students were asked about their mode of regular commuting to school, and to provide information on several socio-demographic variables. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to quantify associations between active commuting and greenness and the Can-ALE. The resulting odds ratios, and their 95% confidence intervals, were adjusted for a series of risk factors that were collected from the survey.

Results

Overall, 21% of students reported active commuting (biking or walking) to school, and this prevalence decreased with increasing age. Students whose schools had higher Can-ALE scores were more likely to be active commuters. Specifically, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of being an active commuter for schools in the highest quartile of the Can-ALE was 2.11 (95% CI = 1.64, 2.72) when compared with those in the lowest. For children, aged 11–14 years, who attended schools in high dwelling density areas, a higher odds of active commuting was observed among those in the upper quartile of greenness relative to the lowest (OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 0.92, 2.15). In contrast, for lower dwelling density areas, greenness was inversely associated with active commuting across all ages.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that students attending schools with higher Can-ALE scores are more likely to actively commute to school, and that positive impacts of greenness on active commuting are evident only in younger children in more densely populated areas. Future studies should collect more detailed data on residential measures of the built environment, safety, distance between home and school, and mixed modes of commuting behaviours.

Résumé

Objectifs

Au Canada, les élèves comptent de plus en plus sur les véhicules à moteur pour faire le trajet entre la maison et l’école, et ils sont peu nombreux à avoir des niveaux d’activité physique globaux conformes aux recommandations des lignes directrices. Les infrastructures et les milieux bâtis autour des écoles pourraient promouvoir les déplacements actifs entre la maison et l’école, faisant ainsi augmenter l’activité physique. Jusqu’à maintenant toutefois, très peu d’études canadiennes ont examiné cette question de recherche.

Méthode

La présente étude est une analyse transversale de 11 006 élèves de 11 à 20 ans ayant participé au Sondage sur la consommation de drogues et la santé des élèves de l’Ontario en 2016-2017. L’indice de végétation par différence normalisée (IVDN) dérivé par télédétection, utilisé dans un rayon de 500 m des établissements scolaires, a servi à caractériser la verdure, et l’indice d’accessibilité à la vie active dans les milieux de vie au Canada (AVA-Can) a servi à caractériser la marchabilité. Les élèves ont répondu à une question sur leur mode de transport habituel pour se rendre à l’école et donné des informations sur plusieurs variables sociodémographiques. Des modèles de régression logistique multivariée ont servi à chiffrer les associations entre les déplacements actifs, la verdure et l’AVA-Can. Les rapports de cotes ainsi obtenus, et leurs intervalles de confiance de 95 %, ont été ajustés en fonction d’une série de facteurs de risque retracés dans l’enquête.

Résultats

Dans l’ensemble, 21 % des élèves ont dit utiliser un mode de déplacement actif (vélo ou marche) pour se rendre à l’école, et cette prévalence était inversement liée à l’âge. Les élèves dont les écoles avaient un indice Can-ALE élevé étaient plus susceptibles d’employer un mode de transport actif. Spécifiquement, le rapport de cotes (RC) ajusté pour le fait de se rendre à l’école par un mode de transport actif dans le quartile supérieur de l’indice Can-ALE était de 2,11 (IC de 95 % = 1,64, 2,72) comparativement au quartile inférieur. Pour les enfants (11 à 14 ans) fréquentant des écoles dans des zones à forte densité d’habitation, des probabilités plus élevées de déplacements actifs ont été observées chez ceux du quartile de verdure supérieur que chez ceux du quartile inférieur (RC = 1,41; IC de 95 % = 0,92, 2,15). Par contre, dans les zones à faible densité d’habitation, la verdure étaient inversement associée aux déplacements actifs, à tout âge.

Conclusion

Nos constatations indiquent que les élèves fréquentant des écoles dont l’indice Can-ALE est élevé sont plus susceptibles d’utiliser un mode de déplacement actif pour se rendre à l’école, et que l’effet positif de la verdure n’est manifeste que chez les jeunes enfants, dans les zones urbaines densément peuplées. Les études futures devraient obtenir des données plus détaillées sur les indicateurs résidentiels du milieu bâti, la sécurité, la distance entre la maison et l’école et les modes de déplacement mixtes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank CANUE (Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium) for providing the following built environment data: i) NDVI metrics, indexed to DMTI Spatial Inc. postal codes; ii) Canadian Active Living Environments Index (Can-ALE), indexed to DMTI Spatial Inc. postal codes; and iii) Material and Social Deprivation Indices (MSDI), indexed to DMTI Spatial Inc. postal codes. The Material and Social Deprivation Indices (MSDI) used by CANUE were provided by: Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec (INSPQ). Indices were compiled for 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2011 Census data by the Bureau d’information et d’études en santé des populations (BIESP). [online] https://www.inspq.qc.ca/en/information-management-and-analysis/deprivation-index. We would like to acknowledge the Institute for Social Research at York University for overseeing OSDUHS data collection. We would also like to thank the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch of the Public Health Agency of Canada for funding the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Susanna Abraham Cottagiri & Paul J. Villeneuve

  2. Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5H4, Canada

    Margaret De Groh, Sebastian A. Srugo & Ying Jiang

  3. Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada

    Hayley A. Hamilton

  4. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M7, Canada

    Hayley A. Hamilton

  5. Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0B9, Canada

    Nancy A. Ross

  6. Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1A2, Canada

    Paul J. Villeneuve

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  1. Susanna Abraham Cottagiri
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  2. Margaret De Groh
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Correspondence to Susanna Abraham Cottagiri.

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Cottagiri, S.A., De Groh, M., Srugo, S.A. et al. Are school-based measures of walkability and greenness associated with modes of commuting to school? Findings from a student survey in Ontario, Canada. Can J Public Health 112, 331–341 (2021). https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-020-00440-0

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