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'Walking school bus' boosts physical activity

Mendosa JA. Pediatrics. 2011;doi:10.1542/peds.2010-3486.

A "walking school bus," in which adults chaperone groups of children back and forth to school, was a good way to reduce the number of vehicles around schools and boosted physical activity in participants, according to a study published online.

Jason A. Mendoza, MD, MPH, who is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, and colleagues examined data from a pilot cluster trial of fourth-grade students in eight Houston-area schools.

The researchers looked at the students’ average rate of commuting, as well as secondary outcomes of physical activity at 1 week before the program, and up to 4 weeks after initiation of the program.

The intervention boosted daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, in minutes, “from 46.6 ± 4.5 (time 1) to 48.8 ± 4.5 (time 2), whereas control children decreased from 46.1 ± 4.3 (time 1) to 41.3 ± 4.3 (time 2) (P=.029).” The program also decreased active commuting by about 30%.

“Parents’ outcome expectations and family acculturation influenced the program’s effects on children’s active commuting, which underscores the importance of parents and the family’s sociocultural environment on children’s health-related behaviors, even among those that occur outside of the home,” the researchers concluded.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.

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