Ghekiere Ariane, Van Cauwenberg Jelle, Mertens Lieze, Clarys Peter, de Geus Bas, Cardon Greet, Nasar Jack, Salmon Jo, De Bourdeaudhuij Ilse, Deforche Benedicte
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 4K3, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Human Biometry and Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Physical Therapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015 May 2;12:54. doi: 10.1186/s12966-015-0216-2.
As physical activity levels decrease as children age, sustainable and accessible forms of physical activity are needed from a young age. Transportation cycling is one such physical activity and has been associated with many benefits. The aims of the study were to identify whether manipulating micro-environmental factors (e.g. speed limits, evenness of cycle path) within a photographed street influences the perceived supportiveness for transportation cycling; and whether changing these micro-environmental factors has the same effect across different street settings.
We recruited 305 fifth and sixth grade children and their parents from twelve randomly selected primary schools in Flanders, Belgium. They completed a web-based questionnaire including 12 choice-based conjoint tasks, in which they had to choose between two possible routes depicted on manipulated photographs, which the child would cycle along. The routes differed in four attributes: general street setting (enclosed, half open, open), evenness of cycle path (very uneven, moderately uneven, even), speed limit (70 km/h, 50 km/h, 30 km/h) and degree of separation between a cycle path and motorised traffic (no separation, curb, hedge). Hierarchical Bayes analyses revealed the relative importance of each micro-environmental attribute across the three street settings.
For each attribute, children and their parents chose routes that had the best alternative (i.e. open street setting, even cycle path, 30 km/h, a hedge separating the cycle path from motorised traffic). The evenness of the cycle path and lower speed limit had the largest effect for the children, while the degree of separation and lower speed limit had the largest effect for their parents. Interactions between micro-scale and macro-scale factors revealed differences in the magnitude but not direction of their effects on route choice. The results held across the different kinds of street settings tested.
Improving micro-scale attributes may increase the supportiveness of a street for children's transportation cycling. We call for on-site research to test effects of changes in micro-environmental attributes on transportation cycling among children.
随着儿童年龄增长，身体活动水平会下降，因此从幼年起就需要可持续且易于参与的身体活动形式。交通骑行就是这样一种身体活动，且已被证明有诸多益处。本研究的目的是确定在拍摄的街道内操纵微观环境因素（如速度限制、自行车道平整度）是否会影响对交通骑行的感知支持度；以及改变这些微观环境因素在不同街道环境中是否具有相同效果。
我们从比利时弗拉芒地区随机选取的12所小学招募了305名五年级和六年级学生及其家长。他们完成了一份基于网络的问卷，其中包括12项基于选择的联合任务，在这些任务中，他们必须在两张经过处理的照片所描绘的两条可能路线中进行选择，孩子将沿着这些路线骑行。路线在四个属性上有所不同：一般街道环境（封闭、半开放、开放）、自行车道平整度（非常不平整、中等不平整、平整）、速度限制（70公里/小时、50公里/小时、30公里/小时）以及自行车道与机动车交通之间的分隔程度（无分隔、路缘、树篱）。分层贝叶斯分析揭示了每个微观环境属性在三种街道环境中的相对重要性。
对于每个属性，儿童及其家长都选择了具有最佳选项的路线（即开放的街道环境、平整的自行车道、30公里/小时、有树篱将自行车道与机动车交通分隔开）。自行车道平整度和较低的速度限制对儿童影响最大，而分隔程度和较低的速度限制对家长影响最大。微观尺度和宏观尺度因素之间的相互作用揭示了它们对路线选择影响的大小差异，但方向相同。这些结果在测试的不同类型街道环境中均成立。
改善微观尺度属性可能会增加街道对儿童交通骑行的支持度。我们呼吁进行实地研究，以测试微观环境属性变化对儿童交通骑行的影响。
