Promoting active travel to school in Europe

Background Physical inactivity is a major public health burden and the fourth leading cause of premature death. Walking or cycling for transport is one way in which children can increase their levels of physical activity. Walking is popular, convenient and free and has even been described as a "near perfect exercise". Although travel by bicycle does introduce health risks through accidents and injuries, the health benefits of cycling have been shown to outweigh these risks. Objectives The overall aim of the project is to promote active travel to school and thus, increase awareness of this opportunity as an importance health-enhancing physical activity. Implementation We obtained a better understanding on the status quo of active travel in Europe by using the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) data on active travel. We examined facilitators and barriers of children’s (11-15 year old) active transport to school by performing concept mapping sessions with key stakeholders. Furthermore, we co-created interventions to promote active transport to school in children and adolescents in all five participating countries. Achievements Even though active travel to school shows stable patterns in Europe, hardly any international high quality interventions exist that provide evidence of effective strategies to promote active travel to school. Our concept mapping study emphasized the importance to consider the needs of students, parents and teachers to develop intervention studies that stand a chance to promote active travel behaviour.