Original researchInsights into children’s independent mobility for transportation cycling—Which socio-ecological factors matter?
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
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Children’s independent mobility differs according to gender, with boys allowed to cycle for longer distances without adult supervision compared to girls.
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Parental perceptions of children’s cycling and traffic skills are an important correlate of children’s independent mobility.
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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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Onderzoek Verplaatsingsgedrag Vlaanderen 4
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2021, Journal of Transport and HealthCitation Excerpt :Stemming from gendered assumptions of feminine vulnerability, girls are often granted less independent mobility compared to boys due to parenting practices that are ‘protective’ of daughters (Valentine, 1997). For example, parental perceptions of traffic safety were a more significant predictor of girls' independent mobility than boys and girls were less likely than boys to use AST if parents reported that there were busy roads to cross on the route in Australia (Timperio et al., 2004) and Belgium (Ghekiere et al., 2017). Parental perceptions, relative to their child's, have a greater influence on AST behaviours, which suggests parental perceptions contribute to gender-based differences in AST (Wilson et al., 2018).
Examining how children's gender influences parents’ perceptions of the local environment and their influence on children's independent mobility
2021, Wellbeing, Space and SocietyCitation Excerpt :Within the intrapersonal level, both age and gender influence children's independent mobility. Research has found that older children are more likely to be granted independent mobility than younger children and boys are more likely to be granted independent mobility relative to girls (Buliung et al., 2017; Ghekiere et al., 2017; Riazi et al., 2019). Differences in correlates of independent mobility have also been noted for boys and girls.