Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK.
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, İstanbul Technical University, İstanbul 34367, Turkey.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 2;18(1):286. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18010286.
Increasing active school travel (AST) among children may provide the required level of daily physical activity and reduce the prevalence of obesity. Despite efforts to promote this mode, recent evidence shows that AST rates continue to decrease in suburban and urban areas alike. The aim of this research study, therefore, is to facilitate our understanding of how objective and perceived factors near the home influence children's AST in an understudied city, İstanbul, Turkey. Using data from a cross-sectional sample of students aged 12-14 from 20 elementary schools ( = 1802) and consenting parents ( = 843), we applied a nominal logistic regression model to highlight important predictors of AST. The findings showed that street network connectivity (as measured by two novel space syntax measures, metric reach and directional reach) was the main deciding factor for active commuting to school, while parents' perceptions of condition of sidewalks and shade-casting street trees were moderately significant factors associated with AST. Overall, this study demonstrated the significance of spatial structure of street network around the homes in the potential for encouraging AST, and more importantly, the need to consider objective and perceived environmental attributes when strategizing means to increase this mode choice and reduce ill-health among children.
增加儿童积极的学校出行（AST）可能提供所需的日常身体活动水平，并降低肥胖症的患病率。尽管努力推广这种模式，但最近的证据表明，郊区和城市的 AST 率都在继续下降。因此，这项研究旨在帮助我们了解在土耳其伊斯坦布尔这个研究较少的城市，家庭附近的客观和感知因素如何影响儿童的 AST。本研究使用了来自 20 所小学的 12-14 岁学生（n=1802）和同意的家长（n=843）的横断面样本数据，应用名义逻辑回归模型来突出 AST 的重要预测因素。研究结果表明，街道网络连通性（由两个新的空间句法指标——度量可达性和方向可达性来衡量）是步行上学的主要决定因素，而家长对人行道状况和遮阳行道树的看法是与 AST 中度相关的重要因素。总的来说，这项研究表明家庭周围街道网络的空间结构在鼓励 AST 方面的重要性，更重要的是，在制定增加这种出行方式和减少儿童健康不良的策略时，需要考虑客观和感知的环境属性。
