This study aims to assess whether objectively measured characteristics of the neighborhood, route, and school environments are associated with active commuting to school among children, and it explores whether distance acts as a moderator in this association.

Rates of walking and bicycling to school have declined sharply in recent decades, and federal and state governments have committed funds to reverse these trends. To increase walking and biking to school will require understanding why many parents choose to drive their children to school and how well existing programs, like Safe Routes to School, work.

In this study, researchers stress the importance in considering the role of neighborhoods in supporting children’s physical activity and healthy development, especially in low-income communities where obesity levels among children are higher than for their middle-income counterparts.

The purpose of this study is to identify the perceived environmental factors that support or hinder physical activity among rural children to develop testable hypotheses to inform future interventions for reducing unhealthy weight gain and preventing chronic diseases associated with physical inactivity.

Using the Ecological Systems Theory (EST) as a model, researchers examined the existing literature with respect to neighborhood factors as outlined in EST, including factors related to the family and the school, which are embedded in larger social contexts of the community and society.

This study examines changes in state-specific obesity and overweight prevalence among US children and adolescents between 2003 and 2007 through a cross-sectional analysis of National Survey of Children’s Health data.

There are a lot of questions about joint use. This resource answers some of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) for California communities and districts working to implement joint use agreements in their communities. 

Children of parents that perceive high satisfaction, a great number of neighborhood services, good sidewalks and high park access in their neighborhood, are more likely to be physically active, engage in less screen time, and generally use greater amounts of active transport to and from school. 

In this systematic review and meta-analysis researchers quantify the dose–response relationship of non-vigorous physical activity and all-cause mortality.

This study tests whether a simulated active commute to school dampens cardiovascular reactivity to a cognitive stressor typical to what children might experience during school.

• This purpose of this study was to determine whether a positive association exists between active travel and aerobic fitness in English schoolchildren.

This study examines the association between the level of physical activity (PA), friendliness of the built environment and adolescent physical activity and body mass index using a national sample of youth and data collected from the communities where they reside.

The University of New Mexico School-Based Health Center (UNM SBHC) collaborated with the school and community to test the feasibility of a modified Walking School Bus (WSB) program as a strategy to prevent obesity among the elementary school students.

This study combined accelerometer and GPS data to investigate the level and location of physical activity in children walking to school.

Recent research suggests that racial residential segregation may be detrimental to health.

This study looks at the magnitude, direction, and statistical significance of the relationship between active travel and rates of physical activity, obesity, and diabetes.

Physical activity (PA) has been hypothesized to spare gray matter volume in late adulthood, but longitudinal data testing an association has been lacking.

Objective: The paper reviews the scientific literature concerning social differences in traffic injuries in childhood in order to highlight the current state of knowledge and to draw the main lines of a research agenda.


This paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research is the first to estimate the impact of obesity on medical costs in order to address the endogeneity of weight and to reduce the bias from reporting error in weight.

This paper presents a systematic literature review of experimental or observational studies that objectively evaluated the effect of the built environment on cycling.