Feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots to promote walking to school
- Author
- Griet Vanwolleghem (UGent) , Sara D'Haese (UGent) , Delfien Van Dyck (UGent) , Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij (UGent) and Greet Cardon (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- Background: Drop-off spots are locations in the proximity of primary schools where parents can drop off or pick up their child. From these drop-off spots children can walk to and from school. This pilot study aimed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots and to evaluate how drop-off spots are perceived by school principals, teachers and parents of 6-to-12-year old children. Methods: First, a feasibility questionnaire was completed (n = 216) to obtain parental opinions towards the implementation of drop-off spots. A drop-off spot was organized (500-800 m distance from school) in two primary schools. A within-subject design was used to compare children's (n = 58) step counts and number of walking trips during usual conditions (baseline) and during implementation of a drop-off spot (intervention). Three-level (class-participant- condition) linear regression models were used to determine intervention effects. After the intervention, 2 school principals, 7 teachers and 44 parents filled out a process evaluation questionnaire. Results: Prior to the intervention, 96% expressed the need for adult supervision during the route to school. Positive significant intervention effects were found for step counts before/after school hours (+732 step counts/day; X-2 = 12.2; p < 0.001) and number of walking trips to/from school (+2 trips/week; X-2 = 52.9; p < 0.001). No intervention effect was found for total step counts/day (X-2 = 2.0; p = 0.16). The intervention was positively perceived by the school principals and parents, but teachers expressed doubts regarding future implementation. Conclusion: This pilot study showed that implementing drop-off spots might be an effective intervention to promote children's walking to school. Implementing drop-off spots does not require major efforts from the schools and schools can choose how and when they organize drop-off spots. However, motivating teachers and involving other volunteers (e. g. parents, grandparents) may be needed. Future studies should investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots in a larger sample of schools.
- Keywords
- Primary schoolchildren, CHILDRENS PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY, Intervention, Drop-off spots, TRANSPORT, BUS, ADOLESCENTS, TRENDS, YOUTH, TIME, Active commuting to school
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-5766126
- MLA
- Vanwolleghem, Griet, et al. “Feasibility and Effectiveness of Drop-off Spots to Promote Walking to School.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, vol. 11, 2014, doi:10.1186/s12966-014-0136-6.
- APA
- Vanwolleghem, G., D’Haese, S., Van Dyck, D., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., & Cardon, G. (2014). Feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots to promote walking to school. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-014-0136-6
- Chicago author-date
- Vanwolleghem, Griet, Sara D’Haese, Delfien Van Dyck, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, and Greet Cardon. 2014. “Feasibility and Effectiveness of Drop-off Spots to Promote Walking to School.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-014-0136-6.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Vanwolleghem, Griet, Sara D’Haese, Delfien Van Dyck, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, and Greet Cardon. 2014. “Feasibility and Effectiveness of Drop-off Spots to Promote Walking to School.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 11. doi:10.1186/s12966-014-0136-6.
- Vancouver
- 1.Vanwolleghem G, D’Haese S, Van Dyck D, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Cardon G. Feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots to promote walking to school. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. 2014;11.
- IEEE
- [1]G. Vanwolleghem, S. D’Haese, D. Van Dyck, I. De Bourdeaudhuij, and G. Cardon, “Feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots to promote walking to school,” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, vol. 11, 2014.
@article{5766126, abstract = {{Background: Drop-off spots are locations in the proximity of primary schools where parents can drop off or pick up their child. From these drop-off spots children can walk to and from school. This pilot study aimed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots and to evaluate how drop-off spots are perceived by school principals, teachers and parents of 6-to-12-year old children. Methods: First, a feasibility questionnaire was completed (n = 216) to obtain parental opinions towards the implementation of drop-off spots. A drop-off spot was organized (500-800 m distance from school) in two primary schools. A within-subject design was used to compare children's (n = 58) step counts and number of walking trips during usual conditions (baseline) and during implementation of a drop-off spot (intervention). Three-level (class-participant- condition) linear regression models were used to determine intervention effects. After the intervention, 2 school principals, 7 teachers and 44 parents filled out a process evaluation questionnaire. Results: Prior to the intervention, 96% expressed the need for adult supervision during the route to school. Positive significant intervention effects were found for step counts before/after school hours (+732 step counts/day; X-2 = 12.2; p < 0.001) and number of walking trips to/from school (+2 trips/week; X-2 = 52.9; p < 0.001). No intervention effect was found for total step counts/day (X-2 = 2.0; p = 0.16). The intervention was positively perceived by the school principals and parents, but teachers expressed doubts regarding future implementation. Conclusion: This pilot study showed that implementing drop-off spots might be an effective intervention to promote children's walking to school. Implementing drop-off spots does not require major efforts from the schools and schools can choose how and when they organize drop-off spots. However, motivating teachers and involving other volunteers (e. g. parents, grandparents) may be needed. Future studies should investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots in a larger sample of schools.}}, articleno = {{136}}, author = {{Vanwolleghem, Griet and D'Haese, Sara and Van Dyck, Delfien and De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse and Cardon, Greet}}, issn = {{1479-5868}}, journal = {{INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY}}, keywords = {{Primary schoolchildren,CHILDRENS PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY,Intervention,Drop-off spots,TRANSPORT,BUS,ADOLESCENTS,TRENDS,YOUTH,TIME,Active commuting to school}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{11}}, title = {{Feasibility and effectiveness of drop-off spots to promote walking to school}}, url = {{http://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-014-0136-6}}, volume = {{11}}, year = {{2014}}, }
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