In our master's thesis, we investigated the extent to which children commute to and from school in an active manner. We found that approximately half of Slovenian children engage in such activity, a proportion which is relatively average compared to foreign countries that are part of the non-profit organization Active and Healthy Kids. Specifically, we described the operation of the Active to School and Healthy City project and presented several other interventions related to physically active commuting to and from school. The Active to School and Healthy City project includes three activities, with the most widespread being the Walking School Bus, implemented in 83 schools during the 2022/23 school year. In addition to this project, interventions such as the Traffic Snake, White Rabbit, Green Wednesdays: A Day for Walking, Biking, and Carpooling, and Traffic Grandparent were implemented in Slovenia. Furthermore, the project Sustainable Mobility in Kindergartens and Primary Schools was carried out, along with the establishment of guidelines for Safer Routes to School and various measures in this field. Through a literature review, we explored the impact of physically active commuting to and from school on individuals and society, discovering its influence on increased physical activity among children, reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, higher cardiorespiratory fitness, decreased risk of diabetes and obesity, as well as its promotion of personality and social development. It also affects traffic congestion, economic savings, and environmental pollution reduction. We included a case study of good practice from two primary schools to further identify barriers to physically active commuting to and from school. Both schools reported that they encountered the most difficulties with volunteers and emphasized the need for a safe school environment. Our literature review revealed that the choice of physically active commuting to and from school is influenced by factors such as distance from home to school, student age, weather, hazards on the way, legislation, traffic infrastructure on the route to school, family habits, and children's fear of being late for class. We conducted our research using academic databases such as PUBMED, SCOPUS, and GOOGLE SCHOLAR. However, we cannot generalize our findings to Slovenia and abroad because we did not conduct a proper systematic literature review.
|
