Urban transformation interventions for the promotion of active home-school mobility: overview

Abstract Background Active home-school mobility can contribute to a series of benefits, both for the health of children and adolescents (higher levels of physical activity, better cardio-metabolic profile, better school performance), and for the health of the general population and of environment (reduction of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions). An overview of systematic reviews (RS) was conducted in order to evaluate mainly the effectiveness of interventions promoting active home-school mobility on physical activity, overweight/obesity, well-being and reduction of road accidents in children and adolescents. Methods The bibliographic search was carried out on the following databases: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL, without any limits. Endnote software was used for the systematic reviews (SRs) selection. Data relating to the main characteristics and results of the SRs were extracted. The assessment of the methodological quality of the SRs was carried out using the “Health Evidence™ Quality Assessment Tool”. Results On the basis of the relevance and adherence to the research PICO, n. 12 systematic literature reviews evaluating effects of interventions of interest in the study population. The strategies took multiple levels into consideration, i.e. they aimed at organizing the home-school journey to encourage active mobility, as well as training and information aimed at the population under study for the promotion of physical activity. Conclusions Combined interventions appear more effective in promoting active home-school mobility with a better impact on increasing physical activity levels. Further high quality studies are necessary to investigate the impact of these interventions also on the reduction of incidence of overweight/obesity and in terms of school performance. Key messages • Policy makers should promote programs to increase active home-school transport. • Further high quality studies are necessary to investigate the impact of these interventions also on the reduction of incidence of overweight/obesity and in terms of school performance.