Resource Library

Since a decline in activity levels occurs in adolescence, active transport could be important to increase daily physical activity in older adolescents (17–18 years). To promote active transport, it is necessary to be aware of the barriers and facilitators of this type of transport, but also of other transport modes. 

This two page document outlines strategies to increase physical activity through the shared use of recreational facilities.

Tips for Walking Safely to School and in Life

School policies can impact the amount of physical activity that children receive on a regular basis. Because of this, it’s important to be able to identify both barrier policies, which discourage, prohibit, or otherwise present barriers to physical activity, and supportive policies, which encourage, support, or enable physical activity opportunities.

This downloadable report from the Institute of Medicine is a compilation of information around increasing physical activity in K-12 schools.

This fact sheet is designed to engage local Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO's) in the Complete Streets discourse, the resource offers an introduction to complete streets as well as recommendations for implementing complete streets components in underserved communities.

This policy statement from the American Heart Association provides state and local policy recommendations to support shared use of school facilities.

The study consisted of a meta-analysis of 70 studies and articles. However, as there have been few studies that address economic performance directly, the author also conducted an exploratory study of 15 walkable shopping areas judged as successful to examine the sources of success.

These action briefs are a companion to the webinar "Maximizing District-Wide Impact of Safe Routes to School: Educating School District Transportation Departments" that took place on April 18, 2013.

Planning a Fired Up Fun Run is easy! Use our resources and materials to raise and collect funds both in person and online.

This document describes ways that parents can get involved in policy change and improvements to the built environment to enable and encourage more walking and bicycling, which is a healthy form of physical activity.

Tips for Riding a Bicycle to School and in Life

Key takeaway:

• In this study of school-aged children, concerns about safety from violence/crime while traveling to school was common, and feelings of safety were associated with aspects of the environmental context like neighborhood disadvantage, density of alcohol outlets, and crime rates.

In 2012, NHTSA conducted a national telephone survey to obtain a status report on attitudes, knowledge, and behavior related to outdoor walking and bicycling. 

INTRODUCTION:  This systematic review provides an overview of research elucidating the relationship between aerobic physical activity and children's cognition, academic achievement, and psychosocial function.

This study investigated whether being driven to school was associated with lower weekday and weekend step counts, less active out-of-school leisure pursuits and more sedentary behavior.

BACKGROUND:  Implementing physical activity (PA) within academic curricula increases energy expenditure and enhances academic achievement in elementary students. The purposes of the study were to determine the extent teachers met the 20-minute PA policy, identify how teachers met the policy, and measure the level of intensity of PA provided.

This easy-to-read special report, released in 2013, is a roadmap for parents, educators, school administrators, and school volunteers to create healthier school environments so the children in their lives are better positioned to learn.

Research has shown that physical exercise enhances cognitive performance in individuals with intact cognition as well as in individuals diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

The purpose of this article was to describe the process by which research findings informed the successful passage of legislation designed to increase opportunities for physical activity in Mississippi, and discuss implications and lessons learned from this process.