Original research
Insights into children’s independent mobility for transportation cycling—Which socio-ecological factors matter?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2016.08.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

To assess the associations of socio-ecological factors with independent mobility for transportation cycling among 10-to-12-year-old boys and girls. Additionally, we examined whether associations differed across family socio-economic status (SES) and urbanization level.

Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Methods

Parents (n = 1286) were recruited via 45 primary schools across Flanders, Belgium. They completed an online questionnaire assessing demographic and psychosocial factors, neighborhood environmental perceptions, as well as some characteristics of their child. Independent mobility was assessed as the distance children were allowed to cycle for transport without adult supervision. Multilevel gamma regression analyses stratified by gender were performed to examine the associations between the independent variables and children’s independent mobility and the moderating effects of family SES and urbanization level.

Results

Independent mobility was higher among boys compared to girls. Perception of children’s cycling and traffic skills and children’s grade were positively associated with independent mobility among boys and girls. Perceptions of neighborhood traffic safety were positively associated with independent mobility among girls, but not among boys. Perceptions of cycling skills were positively associated with independent mobility among boys living in high urbanized areas, but not in low urbanized areas. Parental cycling for transport was negatively associated with independent mobility among girls with a low family SES, but not among girls with a high family SES.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that interventions targeting increases in children’s cycling and traffic skills may be effective to increase independent mobility. Few differences in associations were found according to children’s gender, family SES or urbanization level.

Introduction

In Europe, the majority of children does not attain 60 min of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity per day, which has been associated with adverse health outcomes not only in childhood (e.g. lower mineral bone density, higher weight status, lower mental health, unhealthy body composition, lower muscle strength), but also in later life (e.g. increased odds of cardio-vascular diseases and several cancers).1

Active transport (i.e. walking or cycling for transport) is an accessible and inexpensive type of physical activity, which can be easily integrated within children’s daily routines. Children’s independent mobility (IM), which refers to children’s freedom to move around in their neighbourhoods without adult supervision,2 is considered as one of the most important determinants of active transport.3, 4, 5 In a previous study in Flanders, IM was strongly associated with the odds of being a cyclist, as well as the volume of cycling for transport.5 Next to the physical activity-related benefits of IM, independently mobile children have a better well-being, educational attainment and experience a better physical, social and emotional development.6, 7, 8

In this paper, we focus on IM for children’s transportation cycling. By cycling, children can cover larger distances more quickly compared to walking for transport. Children’s transportation cycling has also been associated with better health outcomes, including increased cardiovascular fitness and better body composition compared to walking.9, 10 Furthermore, whilst Flemish children prefer to travel by bicycle over other transport modes,11 36% of the 10-to-12 year-old children are still driven by car or use public transport as their main transport mode to travel to destinations within 3 km from their residence.11, 12 This is the first study that examined correlates of IM specific for transportation cycling to various destinations, as previous research focused on IM license to cycle on a main road,2, 8 IM for school transport13 or park-based play.14

Despite the benefits of granting children freedom to roam within their neighborhood, IM has dramatically decreased during the last decades.8, 15 It is therefore important to study what determines children’s IM, in order to prevent further declines in IM levels, or potentially increase IM levels. As mainly parents determine the distance children are allowed to travel independently, it is essential to study parent-perceived correlates. By using a socio-ecological approach, both individual (i.e. children’s demographics, and parents’ demographics and psychological factors) and environmental factors (i.e. social and physical environmental factors) are covered.16

Individual factors previously associated with children’s IM are age and gender.6, 17 Children’s IM levels increase when children grow older, and boys have more IM compared to girls. Environmental factors previously cited to be related with IM are parental perceptions of traffic safety and stranger danger.8 It is unclear which other environmental factors may play a role in determining children’s IM for transportation cycling. For example, it may be possible that children living in a more cycling-friendly neighborhood (e.g., presence of cycling infrastructure, low traffic density and traffic speed) are allowed to have higher IM levels compared to their peers in a neighborhood that is less supportive for cycling. There is also inconsistency on whether IM levels differ according to urbanization level in a European context.18 Additionally, it is hypothesized that parents will be more likely to grant their children some independence when they have positive attitudes and perceptions towards active transport themselves.13 However, to the author’s knowledge, there are currently no studies available that have examined these associations.

As children’s IM differs significantly according to gender, Stone et al. recommended to investigate gender-specific correlates of IM.19 Other factors that are hypothesized to moderate the associations between socio-ecological factors and children’s IM are family socio-economic status (SES) and urbanization level of the neighborhood. Regulation of children’s IM can be considered as a parenting practice, which has been shown to vary according to the educational level of the parents.20 Different associations may be found according to urbanization level. For example, it is possible that in high urbanized areas, where there is a higher traffic density, cycling facilities may be more important for IM compared to low urbanized areas where traffic density is lower.

Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine how socio-ecological factors (including child and parents’ demographics, parents’ psychosocial factors and parents’ neighborhood perceptions) are associated with children’s IM for transportation cycling. Additionally, we examined whether these associations were moderated by family SES and urbanization level.

Section snippets

Methods

We recruited parents via children primary schools (5th and 6th grade, aged 10–12 years) across Flanders, Belgium. Schools were randomly selected to obtain schools located across the different regions in Flanders (n = 101) and these were supplemented by schools where one of the researchers knew a contact person (e.g. primary school of the researcher, n = 8). We telephoned 109 primary schools across Flanders, of which 45 agreed to participate (participation rate = 41%). The participation rate was

Results

Of the 2461 parents who received an invitation to participate, 1286 completed the online survey (response rate = 52.3%). Descriptive characteristics of the total sample and the specific subgroups are shown in Table 1. Our sample of parents consisted predominantly (77%) of mothers, half of them lived in low urbanized areas and 29% had a low family SES. On average, their children were allowed to cycle independently for a distance of 2.7 km, with 15% of children not being allowed to cycle

Discussion

To our knowledge, this is the first paper examining socio-ecological correlates of IM towards transportation cycling among 10- to 12-year old boys and girls. This knowledge is needed when aiming to increase the number of children being granted some independence for transportation cycling. Secondly, we explored whether these associations differed across urbanization level and family-level SES, which increased our understanding of what parents experience as barriers or facilitators of IM within

Conclusion

Our study was the first study examining correlates of children’s independent mobility towards cycling for transport. The findings suggest that when aiming to increase children’s independent mobility, efforts should be made to improve parents’ perceptions of children’s cycling and traffic skills. Additionally, creating safe neighborhoods could increase children’s independent mobility, which in turn could lead to more transportation cycling. Finally, more research (both cross-sectional and

Practical implications

  • Children’s independent mobility differs according to gender, with boys allowed to cycle for longer distances without adult supervision compared to girls.

  • Parental perceptions of children’s cycling and traffic skills are an important correlate of children’s independent mobility.

  • Increasing children’s cycling and traffic skills may be important targets in cycling promotion among children.

Acknowledgements

We want to thank all master students for their assistance with data collection. We thank all school principals who agreed to be involved in the study, as well as the parents who participated within the study. Finally, we want to thank all members of the Unit Health Promotion from Ghent University for critically revising the manuscript.

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