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Table 2 Population characteristics and their relationships with walking to school

From: Parental safety concerns and active school commute: correlates across multiple domains in the home-to-school journey

 

Totals

All

Nonwalkers

Walkers

χ2( p)

 

830

N

(%)

N = 675

(%)

N = 155

(%)

  

Demography & SES (Bonferroni alpha level = 0.01)

         

Student gender ‡

830

        

  Boy

 

412

(49.6)

328

(48.6)

84

(54.2)

.208

 

  Girl

 

418

(50.4)

347

(51.4)

71

(45.8)

  

Student race/ethnicity ‡

826

        

  Non-Hispanic Whites

 

165

(20.0)

145

(21.6)

20

(12.9)

.061

 

  Mexican-American Latino Hispanics

 

507

(61.4)

399

(59.5)

108

(69.7)

  

  African-Americans

 

53

(6.4)

45

(6.7)

8

(5.2)

  

  Others

 

101

(12.2)

82

(12.2)

19

(12.3)

  

Does family receive any public assistance?

777

        

  No

 

244

(31.4)

213

(33.6)

31

(21.5)

.005

**

  Yes

 

533

(68.6)

420

(66.4)

113

(78.0)

  

Highest level of education for self?

691

        

  Up to middle school or less

 

119

(17.2)

94

(16.6)

25

(19.8)

.301

 

  High School or GED

 

364

(52.7)

294

(52.0)

70

(55.6)

  

  Associate degree to professional degree

 

208

(30.1)

177

(31.3)

31

(24.6)

  

Does family own car, van or truck?

801

        

  No

 

30

(3.7)

18

(2.8)

12

(8.2)

.004

**

  Yes, one

 

326

(40.7)

263

(40.2)

63

(42.9)

  

  Yes, two or more

 

445

(55.6)

373

(57.0)

72

(49.0)

  

Acculturation (Bonferroni alpha level = 0.008)

         

Language spoken most of the time by parent

800

        

  Spanish

 

179

(22.4)

143

(22.0)

36

(24.2)

.807

 

  English

 

474

(59.3)

389

(59.8)

85

(57.0)

  

  English + others

 

147

(18.4)

119

(18.3)

28

(18.8)

  

Language thought in most of the time by parent

818

        

  Spanish

 

193

(23.6)

153

(23.0)

40

(26.3)

.527

 

  English

 

501

(61.2)

414

(62.2)

87

(57.2)

  

  English + others

 

124

(15.2)

99

(14.9)

25

(16.4)

  

Were you born in US?

767

        

  No

 

228

(29.7)

179

(28.6)

49

(34.8)

.148

 

  Yes

 

539

(70.3)

447

(71.4)

92

(65.2)

  

Was your mother born in US?

756

        

  No

 

326

(43.1)

263

(42.7)

63

(45.0)

.619

 

  Yes

 

430

(56.9)

353

(57.3)

77

(55.0)

  

Was your father born in US?

747

        

  No

 

323

(43.2)

257

(42.2)

66

(47.8)

.228

 

  Yes

 

424

(56.8)

352

(57.8)

72

(52.2)

  

Was your child born in US?

808

        

  No

 

62

(7.7)

51

(7.8)

11

(7.3)

.842

 

  Yes

 

746

(92.3)

606

(92.2)

140

(92.7)

  

Medical limitations (Bonferroni alpha level = 0.02)

         

Medical condition/disability that limit child’s PA?

822

        

  No

 

772

(93.9)

624

(93.6)

148

(95.5)

.365

 

  Yes

 

50

(6.1)

43

(6.4)

7

(4.5)

  

Does child have asthma?

814

        

  No

 

733

(90.0)

593

(89.8)

140

(90.9)

.692

 

  Yes

 

81

(10.0)

67

(10.2)

14

(9.1)

  

If yes, is asthma well controlled by medication?

105

        

  No

 

29

(27.6)

27

(30.0)

2

(13.3)

.181

 

  Yes

 

76

(72.4)

63

(70.0)

13

(86.7)

  

School policy (Bonferroni alpha level = 0.02)

         

Have teacher encouraged walk/bike to school? ‡

669

        

  No

 

558

(83.4)

472

(85.2)

86

(74.8)

.006

**

  Yes

 

111

(16.6)

82

(14.8)

29

(25.2)

  

School has a walking school bus program? ‡

476

        

  No

 

349

(73.3)

300

(75.0)

49

(64.5)

.057

 

  Yes

 

127

(26.7)

100

(25.0)

27

(35.5)

  

School encourage walking/biking to/from school

408

        

  Does not encourage

 

301

(73.8)

252

(78.5)

49

(56.3)

<.001

**

  Encourage

 

107

(26.2)

69

(21.0)

38

(43.7)

  

Civic engagement (Bonferroni alpha level = 0.01)

         

In the past 12 months have you…

         

Voted in an election

797

        

  No

 

433

(54.3)

341

(52.4)

92

(63.0)

.020

*

  Yes

 

364

(45.7)

310

(47.6)

54

(37.0)

  

Written/called govt. official about community issue

790

        

  No

 

718

(90.9)

584

(90.5)

134

(92.4)

.479

 

  Yes

 

72

(9.1)

61

(9.5)

11

(7.6)

  

Attended school board, city, or other govt. meeting

788

        

  No

 

681

(86.4)

549

(85.0)

132

(93.0)

.012

*

  Yes

 

107

(13.6)

97

(15.0)

10

(7.0)

  

Volunteered at your child’s school?

792

        

  No

 

576

(72.7)

461

(71.3)

115

(79.3)

.049

*

  Yes

 

216

(27.3)

186

(28.7)

30

(20.7)

  

Volunteered for any community org?

791

        

  No

 

584

(73.8)

473

(73.2)

111

(76.6)

.409

 

  Yes

 

207

(26.2)

173

(26.8)

34

(23.4)

  

Social Integration (Bonferroni alpha level = 0.01)

         

In my community where I live…

         

people work together to resolve problems

801

        

  Disagree

 

140

(17.5)

115

(17.6)

25

(17.1)

.119

 

  Unsure

 

343

(42.8)

270

(41.2)

73

(50.0)

  

  Agree

 

318

(39.7)

270

(41.2)

48

(32.9)

  

People are only out for themselves

800

        

  Disagree

 

268

(33.5)

229

(34.9)

39

(27.1)

.168

 

  Unsure

 

327

(40.9)

260

(39.6)

67

(46.5)

  

A small group of people have all the power

796

        

  Disagree

 

436

(54.8)

358

(54.9)

78

(54.2)

.831

 

  Unsure

 

268

(33.7)

217

(33.3)

51

(35.4)

  

  Agree

 

92

(11.6)

77

(11.8)

15

(10.4)

  

I feel like an outsider

787

        

  Disagree

 

573

(72.8)

476

(73.7)

97

(68.8)

.070

 

  Unsure

 

145

(18.4)

110

(17.0)

35

(24.8)

  

  Agree

 

69

(8.8)

60

(9.3)

9

(6.4)

  

Nothing I can do to solve problems that happen

793

        

  Disagree

 

443

(55.9)

369

(56.9)

74

(51.4)

.249

 

  Unsure

 

249

(31.4)

203

(31.3)

46

(31.9)

  

  Agree

 

101

(12.7)

77

(11.9)

24

(16.7)

  
  1. Texas 4th grade students, 2008-2010.
  2. ‡Questions that were answered by the children (students). Otherwise, questions were answered by parents.
  3. *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ Bonferroni adjustment alpha level
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