the construction of trails and greenspace rather than residential and retail construction, making health an explicit goal in project priority setting, adding a public health professional to decision-making boards, increasing the connectivity between the BeltLine and civic spaces, and ensuring that affordable housing is built. BeltLine project decision makers have incorporated most of the HIA recommendations into the planning process. The HIA was cited in the awarding of additional funds of $7,000,000 for brownfield clean-up and greenspace development. The project is expected to promote the health of local residents more than in the absence of the HIA.
- This report is one of the first HIAs to tie specific assessment findings to specific recommendations and to identifiable impacts from those recommendations. The lessons learned from this project may help others engaged in similar efforts.
Ross, C. L., K. Leone de Nie, et al. (2012). "Health Impact Assessment of the Atlanta BeltLine." American journal of preventive medicine 42(3): 203-213.
- Few adolescents choose to cycle to school in the UK despite the potential health and environmental benefits of the activity. This study sets out to establish the psychological, social and environmental barriers that affect an adolescent's decision to cycle to school.
- Two cross-sectional surveys were distributed, one to pupils aged 11–14 years and one to their parents. Respondents were drawn from a state school for 11–16-year olds in the south of England. Using a Likert scale, respondents were asked to rate barriers to cycling. Fifty-two per cent responded, with 62 households returning both questionnaires.
- Using logistical regression analysis, the investigation found that the probability of a pupil cycling to school decreased when they did not have a friend who cycled to school. Other variables that showed a decreased probability of a child cycling to school were linked to either safety or social issues.
- The findings of this research suggest that social support and road safety could be important predictors for adolescent cycling behavior. Recommendations include promoting initiatives that facilitate social interaction and cyclist safety at the school.
Benson, J. and A. Scriven (2012). "Psychological, social and environmental barriers to cycling to school." International Journal of Health Promotion and Education 50(1): 34-44.
- Walking school buses (WSB) increased children's physical activity, but impact on pedestrian safety behaviors (PSB) is unknown.
- This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of collecting school-level pedestrian safety behavior outcomes and changes to those outcomes during a WSB program study.
- The WSB was associated with more children crossing at an intersection, but fewer children fully stopping at the curb. These mixed results suggest modification to the WSB program may be necessary in order to improve children's pedestrian safety behaviors on the walk to and from school.
- Further WSB studies, preferably fully powered experimental trials that longitudinally follow participants' pedestrian safety behaviors in the long term, should be conducted in a variety of settings among diverse populations to formally evaluate pedestrian safety and physical activity outcomes. Moreover, studies that examine the influence of the built environment, use objective measures of neighborhood safety, and consider vehicular traffic are also necessary to evaluate their influences on the WSB and children's pedestrian safety.
Mendoza, J. A., K. Watson, et al. (2012). "Impact of a pilot walking school bus intervention on children's pedestrian safety behaviors: A pilot study." Health & Place 18(1): 24-30.
- The school setting could be a primary venue for promoting physical activity among inner-city children due to the structured natured of the school day. The authors examined differences in step counts between structured school days (SSD) and weekend days (WED) among a sample of public school children in Washington, DC.
- Subjects (N = 29) were third- to sixth-grade students enrol