The role of street connectivity in promoting walking/biking behavior in US children

Background: Walking/biking to everyday destinations is promoted as a mechanism to increase physical activity levels in children. Studies with greater geographic and racial/ethnic diversity are needed to confirm this relationship in diverse groups.

Purpose: To determine whether street connectivity was associated with walking/biking in children in 130 communities across the United States (US).

Methods: This study included over 4,000 children aged 4-15 with diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Children (or their parent/guardian depending on their age) reported whether they walked/biked to school, walked/biked to other places (e.g., store), or walked/biked for fun or exercise in the past week. Nine attributes of street connectivity were calculated using US Census TIGER files within a 1km buffer of the child’s residence. These nine components were reduced via principal components analysis (PCA). Logistic models that controlled for community clustering and important covariates were undertaken.

Results: Two principal components accounted for 89% of the total variance. The first component (PCA 1) represented density and connectedness while the second component (PCA 2) represented block size. Children with higher scores on PCA 1 were more likely to walk/bike to or from school and to walk/bike to or from the store, park, playground or friend’s house (both p<.001). Children who lived in neighborhoods with higher scores on PCA 2 were less likely to walk/bike to or from school (p<.01). Neither PCA component was associated with walking, biking, scootering, skateboarding or skating for fun or exercise.

Conclusions: Active transport in a diverse group of US children was associated with greater street connectivity/density and smaller block size. Walking for fun or exercise was not associated with these characteristics.

Practical implications: Designing well-connected, dense communities may help to address low and declining rates of active transport in children in the US.

Funding: Funded by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL137731 and HHSN268201000041C).