Dunedin pupils reluctant to walk or bike

Despite the perception  Dunedin pupils live closer to school, city teens are not significantly more likely than their rural counterparts to walk or cycle in, a university study has found.

The Built Environment and Active Transport to School (Beats) study at the University of Otago has been investigating modes of transport to school in Otago adolescents since 2014, with the rural portion of the study - involving 1014 adolescents aged from 13  to 18 - completed this year.

Associate  Prof Sandy Mandic presented a seminar on her research, which involved 11 rural schools from around Otago. When it came  to the number using active transport, there was "no significant difference" across urbanisation settings.

Thirty percent of Dunedin adolescents used "active transport" such as walking or cycling, while 29% of adolescents in Otago towns did the same, along with  27 % of rural adolescents.

"One of the reasons is school choice," Prof Mandic said.

"The problem is they [Dunedin adolescents] are not enrolling in the closest school." 

She said safety concerns were prominent among adolescents when they decided how to get to school. They included dangers posed by traffic, including crossings and cycleways, as well as personal safety.

Detailed findings from the study will be presented at a symposium in November, and the next planned phase of the project - contingent on funding - and project organisers hope to go back  to Queen’s High School, King’s High School and Bayfield High School and evaluate whether  changes  made to infrastructure have made an impact.

As part of the study, Beats looked at the wider lifestyles of the adolescents surveyed.

On average, Dunedin adolescents surveyed had nearly five and a-half hours of screentime every day, well over the recommended maximum of two hours, and only 30% consumed the recommended healthy amount of fruit and vegetables.

Only 17.9% met  healthy  physical activity guidelines.  More than 20% of pupils were overweight, 6.8% were obese and 3.2% were underweight.

elena.mcphee@odt.co.nz