This study is the first bi-national investigation characterizing traffic air pollutants at four schools in El Paso, USA and Cd. Juarez, Mexico. 

KEY TAKEAWAY:

• Comprehensive physical activity programs in school settings can affect physical activity, health, and academic performance.

Surveys were used to collect self-reported data on time spent in PA and SB along with direct measurements of BMI and waist circumference from non-Hispanic white (312 males, 301 females) and Hispanic (671 males, 610 females) adolescents (13–17 years old).

This paper investigates gender differences in the associations between adolescent mode choices and travel patterns for the trip to school and levels of physical activity.

The purpose of this paper is to review intervention studies related to active school transportation to guide future intervention research. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention studies of active transportation to school published in the scientific literature through January 2010. 

The objective of this study is to identify the sociodemographic predictors of active transportation to schools across time among school-aged children participating in the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY).

Physical activity is associated with better health. Two sources of activity for children are walking to school and taking part in organized sports and activities. This study uses a large national cohort to examine factors associated with participation in these activities.

Policy changes are needed to reshape the built environment for active transportation.

An extensive body of research exists on environmental influences on weight-related behaviors in young people. Existing reviews aimed to synthesize this body of work, but generally focused on specific samples, behaviors or environmental influences and integration of findings is lacking.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the risks and benefits to health of travel by bicycle, using a bicycle sharing scheme, compared with travel by car in an urban environment.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to identify the common existing international policies established to increase physical activity in children and adolescents; and (2) to examine the extent to which these policies are supported by solid scientific evidence.

Through a multidisciplinary literature review, the authors investigated the association between various built environment attributes and childhood obesity.

This paper assesses the role of existing school physical activity programs for a national cohort from first grade to fifth grade.

Active travel to school (ATS) has been identified as an important source of physical activity for youth. However, the relationship between ATS and health-related fitness (HRF) among youth remains unclear.

Walking or bicycling to school (ie, active commuting) has shown promise for improving physical activity and preventing obesity in youth. The objectives of this paper are to examine, among US youth, whether active commuting was inversely associated with adiposity and positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). 

African American (AA) and low SES populations report poor health behaviors and outcomes. This study aimed to increase understanding of barriers to participating in healthful behaviors and programs in AA residents of public housing.

The objective of the present study was to assess the longitudinal association between cycling to school and weight status in two cities where cycling to school is common – Kristiansand (Norway) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

The impact of neighborhood walkability (based on street connectivity and traffic exposure) within 2 km of public primary schools on children regularly walking to school was examined. 

This study employed a quasi-experimental design of five Oklahoma schools with a Walking School Bus during school year 2009-2010. The study measured pre- and post-BMI in 1102 active commuters and controls ages five to twelve. A parent questionnaire evaluated dose response, confounders, and contributors or barriers to a child’s active commute.

Increasing active transportation to and from school may reduce childhood obesity rates in Hawaii. A community partnership was formed to address this issue in Hawaii’s Opportunity for Active Living Advancement (HO‘ÄLA), a quasi-experimental study of active transportation in Hawaii County.