School boards have a crucial role to play in supporting shared use in school districts. 

Principals can play a key role in championing shared use in their school systems. Principals are responsible for supporting the academic success of their students, and also for acting as a liaison to parents and the community. 

This webinar is part one of a series of two webinars that will explore in depth tried-and-true methods for working with volunteers in Safe Routes to School programs and other school-based volunteer initiatives.

KEY TAKEAWAY:

Pedestrian fatalities are disproportionately higher in neighborhoods with lower incomes.

KEY TAKEAWAY:

• Physical activity practices at schools may differ by school socioeconomic status.

The independent and joint effects of family and neighborhood poverty and ethnicity upon weight trajectories from age two to six-and-a-half were examined using data from the Infant Health and Development Program (N = 985), an early intervention program for low birth weight children and families.

Childhood obesity has more than tripled in children and adolescents in the past 30 years. 

Uso Compartido: Aumentar el Acceso a la Actividad Fisica

Innovative school districts, such as the one in this case study, have opened their facilities to the community to address both students’ and the communities’ need for recreational activity spaces through shared use agreements. 

KEY TAKEAWAY:

Walkable built environment characteristics were associated with lower BMI z-scores (i.e., BMI compared to normal growth curves) among children.

Communities across the country are addressing chronic disease through a variety of innovative healthy eating and active living strategies. 

Superintendents can serve a critical role in supporting shared use. 

Ohio’s obesity rates, especially for children, are unacceptable. 

Partnerships between school districts and community-based organizations to share school facilities during after-school hours can be an effective strategy for increasing physical activity. 

Despite the growing interest in expanding the joint use of K–12 public schools by public health and planning practitioners to promote healthy, sustainable communities, the topic has received little attention in the urban planning and public health scholarship. 

Despite related physical/mental health benefits, children's independent mobility for school travel (i.e. walking/cycling without adult accompaniment) has declined in recent decades. The study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between social/physical environmental variables and independent mobility on the school journey.

Background:  California was the first state to legislate a Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program under Assembly Bill AB 1475 (1999). SR2S funds construction projects that make it safer for children to walk/bicycle to school and encourage a greater number of children to choose these modes of travel for the school commute.

This study investigated the impact that state traffic safety regulations have on non-motorist fatality rates.

Efforts have intensified to apply a more evidence-based approach to traffic safety. One such effort is the Highway Safety Manual, which provides typical safety performance functions (SPFs) for common road types.

Key takeaway: Parental safety concerns and perceptions of crime in recreational areas may limit child physical activity.