Assessing the impact of the built and sociocultural environments on active commuting to school

The Foundation's Active Living Research program was designed to support investigator-initiated research to identify and assess structural, environmental, and policy changes with the potential to increase population levels of physical activity.This project will assess the impact of built environmental support (i.e., a greenway) and sociocultural environmental support (i.e., an educational campaign) on the frequency of active commuting to school among elementary school children. Grant activities will target children, their parents, and teachers/school staff in Forsyth County, North Carolina. Study outcomes will include the percent of students using the greenway to travel to school (measured via direct observation); the percent of students using active transportation to travel to school (measured via self-report); and measures of students', parents' and staff knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about active commuting to school and about the educational campaign. Results will be summarized and disseminated in a paper for peer-reviewed publication, as well as in lay summaries of findings and presentations for multiple community and research audiences. All policy-related communications will be created in collaboration with RWJF communications staff and consultants. No RWJF funds will be used for lobbying purposes.

Grant Details

Amount Awarded $144,000.00

Awarded on: 1/26/2012

Time frame: 2/1/2012 - 7/31/2013

Grant Number: 69823