How active travel gets students one step closer to good health
Walking or cycling to and from school can provide almost half of a child’s recommended daily activity
Key Findings
- Walking or cycling to and from school can contribute up to 48% of recommended daily physical activity, making it an affordable and sustainable option for increasing children’s movement.
- The homeward journey tends to encourage more physical activity than the morning commute, potentially because students have more freedom to engage in play or planned activities along the way.
- Teachers can support active travel through initiatives like walking buses, cycling lessons, and advocating for pedestrian-friendly infrastructure in their communities.
Source*
Campos‐Garzón, P., Sevil‐Serrano, J., García‐Hermoso, A., Chillón, P., & Barranco‐Ruiz, Y. (2023). Contribution of active commuting to and from school to device‐measured physical activity levels in young people: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 33(11), 2110–2124. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14450
*All evidence briefs are informed by one or more peer reviewed research studies. All study publications used to inform this article are listed at the bottom of this brief with links.
What's this about?
Walking or cycling home from school leads to higher physical activity levels and is an affordable way to get children moving.
‘Active travel’ — walking or cycling to and from school — could be a sustainable and affordable option for boosting children’s physical activity.
By reviewing data from over 7,000 students aged 6-18 years, researchers uncovered significant benefits from active school travel.1 A 2km round trip on foot or by bike can provide nearly half of a child’s recommended daily physical activity. Even a one-way active commute contributes around 15-33% towards the critical 60-minute minimum daily activity target set by global health experts.
On average, active travel to school provides around 10 minutes of daily physical activity, depending on where the child lives. The journey home, however, tends to be more beneficial, yielding around 20 minutes of physical activity. This discrepancy may be due to children’s freedom to engage in spontaneous play or planned activities along the way when there are fewer time pressures.
With many primary school children in England falling short of physical activity guidelines, and educators struggling with busy curricula, active travel could offer a practical solution to enhance student health without encroaching on instructional time.
The authors of the study highlight that teachers can play a vital role in promoting active travel, citing studies showing higher levels of school active travel in settings with supportive policies2 and initiatives focused on education and encouragement.3
They stress that effective active travel initiatives demand collaboration between schools, parents, local authorities, and other stakeholders. Solutions could include bike racks, walking groups, cycling lessons and/or wider active travel education. Safe and accessible routes must also be secured for children and their parents.
The researchers point to active school travel as a simple yet effective strategy to enhance child health, with benefits rippling beyond the school day. Studies indicate that young active commuters are more likely to meet weekly physical activity targets4 and are more active during adulthood,5 highlighting how small daily habits could have long-term impacts.
Research Toolkit
What can we learn from this study to boost young people's health?
KEY FINDINGS
- ENCOURAGE ACTIVE TRAVEL
- By understanding and promoting the benefits of active travel to the school community, teachers can help students and parents improve their physical health and well-being.
- SOME IS BETTER THAN NONE
- While round-trip commutes offer maximum benefits, one-way journeys can still contribute between 15-33% of youth recommended daily activity levels.
- SUPPORT VIA POLICY AND EDUCATION
- Teachers can drive active travel initiatives by promoting walking groups or bike-to-school days. PE classes also provide opportunities to cover safe cycling and active travel education.
- WORKING TOGETHER FOR IMPACT
- Collaboration between schools, parents, local authorities and others can enhance active travel efforts and ensure safe routes and other supportive infrastructure is in place.
WHAT ELSE
- CYCLING’S HIDDEN POTENTIAL
- The researchers could not distinguish between walking and cycling in the studies they analysed. As activity trackers often underreport cycling movements compared to walking, the activity benefits of cycling to school could be even greater than what they found.
- OVERCOMING SCHOOL-TIME BARRIERS
- Encouraging active travel could help boost student health, while overcoming common challenges associated with school-time constraints of physical activity promotion.
- RECOGNISING DIFFERENCES
- It is important to keep in mind that there are a variety of reasons why active travel might not work for some, including distance to school, age, physical ability, and household resources.
Related Topics
- Active travel
- Physical activity
- Primary school
- Secondary school
- Physical activity guidelines
- Cycling
- Walking
Research Sources
1. Campos‐Garzón et al., 2023; 2. Ganzar et al., 2023; 3. McDonald et al., 2013; 4. Khan et al., 2021; 5. Kaseva et al., 2023.
