Socio-environmental factors associated with active school travel in children at ages 6 and 8 years

Active school travel (AST) confers considerable health and environmental benefits. While evidence on AST associates for older children, and in relation to the physical built environment, has grown significantly over time, less is known regarding AST associates in younger children and socio-environmental associates of AST in this age group. In this research, we seek to determine the relationships between a range of factors across the ecological spectrum and children's AST at 6 years and at 8 years of age, controlling for maternal education and number of times moved since 4 years. Structural equation modelling was used to identify factors associated with AST at 6 years. Due to the poor overall fit for the 8 year SEM model, a path model was instead performed to explore the direct relationships between AST and other observed variables. At both 6 and 8 years, importance of living close to schools had a significant and positive relationship with AST (standardised estimates = 0.31 and 0.19 respectively, both p < 0.001), and a significant negative relationship with AST was found for perceived distance to schools (estimates = -0.46 and -0.47 respectively, both p < 0.001). At 8 years, negative associations with AST were detected for parent/caregiver involvement with school (-0.071, p = 0.099) and children being of Pacific ethnicity (-0.100, p = 0.030). Distance remains the overriding factor associated with AST in young children - efforts to ensure children have easy access to, and are supported to attend, schools in close proximity to home are warranted.