Effects of Funding Allocation for Safe Routes to School Programs on Active Commuting to School and Related Behavioral, Knowledge, and Psychosocial Outcomes: Results From the Texas Childhood Obesity Prevention Policy Evaluation (T-COPPE) Study Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Few controlled evaluations of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) initiatives have been conducted. The Texas Childhood Obesity Prevention Policy Evaluation (T-COPPE) study included three conditions: schools awarded infrastructure (I) projects ( n = 23), schools awarded noninfrastructure (NI) projects ( n = 21), and matched comparison (C) schools ( n = 34). Fourth-grade children completed tallies to determine transport to/from schools. Serial cross-sectional surveys were collected from students and parents at baseline (2009) and follow-up (2012). Data were analyzed using mixed linear regression and growth curve models. Morning percent active commuting to school (ACS) in I and NI schools were higher than C schools ( p = .024, p = .013, respectively). Afternoon percent ACS in NI schools decreased more over time compared with C schools ( p = .009). I and NI school students had higher ACS self-efficacy; similar results were noted for parents in I schools. Policies that provide cost-reimbursement funding for SRTS achieve modest short-term ACS outcomes, with few differences between types of funding allocations.

published proceedings

  • ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR

altmetric score

  • 9.15

author list (cited authors)

  • Hoelscher, D., Ory, M., Dowdy, D., Miao, J., Atteberry, H., Nichols, D., ... Wang, S.

citation count

  • 36

complete list of authors

  • Hoelscher, Deanna||Ory, Marcia||Dowdy, Diane||Miao, Jingang||Atteberry, Heather||Nichols, Donna||Evans, Alexandra||Menendez, Tiffni||Lee, Chanam||Wang, Suojin

publication date

  • January 2016