The walking school bus and children's physical activity: a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Pediatric Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Childhood obesity is a growing concern, necessitating interventions to promote physical activity.
• Active commuting to school offers a practical opportunity to increase children's daily physical activity.
• Understanding the effectiveness of structured programs like
• walking school bus
• is crucial for developing effective public health strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a pilot
• walking school bus
• program on children's active commuting and physical activity.
• To identify factors influencing the success of active commuting interventions in urban settings.

Main Methods:

• A pilot cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with 4th-graders in Houston, Texas.
• Schools were randomly assigned to either the intervention (
• walking school bus
• ) or control group.
• Active commuting rates and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were measured before and during the intervention.

Main Results:

• Intervention group children significantly increased active commuting from 23.8% to 54% (P < .0001).
• Control group children showed a decrease in active commuting from 40.2% to 32.6%.
• Daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity increased in the intervention group (46.6 to 48.8 minutes) while decreasing in the control group (46.1 to 41.3 minutes; P = .029).

Conclusions:

• The
• walking school bus
• program effectively enhanced children's active commuting to school.
• The intervention also positively impacted children's daily physical activity levels, suggesting its potential as a public health strategy.