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Educating the Student Body
that active transport enhances social interaction among children and pro-
motes independent mobility (Collins and Kearns, 2001; Kearns et al., 2003). 
Five decades ago, children actively commuting to school were a com-
mon sight. Nearly 90 percent of children who lived within a 1-mile radius 
of school either walked or biked to school (USDOT, 1972). Since 1969 
the prevalence of youth walking or biking to school has steadily declined 
(McDonald, 2007), paralleling a decline in active commuting among 
American adults (Pucher et al., 2011). Data from the U.S. Department 
of Transportation show the decline in active transportation to and from 
school between 1969 and 2001 (see Figure 6-9). 
From an international perspective, active transport among children 
and adolescents is more prevalent in European countries such as the 
Netherlands and Germany, which have a culture of active transport, than 
in other regions. These countries tend to have a lower risk of obesity, dia-
betes, and hypertension in youth compared with the United States. Indeed, 
the data support an inverse relationship between the percentage of active 
transport and obesity rates among residents of the United States, Canada, 
Australia, and 14 European countries (Bassett et al., 2008). In this study