Research
The census information collected in January 2008 indicates that:
- Primary school children mostly walk to school (57.5%), with the car
(35.6%) being a clear second choice.
- 83% of primary school children live within 1500m of their school, which can easily be walked.
- Secondary school children mostly walk to school (42.3%), with the bus
(35.6%) and car (18.9%) being the main alternative choices.
- 44% of secondary school pupils live within 1500m of their school.
- Special school children mostly travel by dedicated school bus or by taxi. These are generally provided by BCC.
There is significant variation in the travel habits of primary, secondary and special school pupils. These are highlighted on the diagram below:
Walking and car travel are the predominant form of transport at Primary
Schools. Public transport and walking dominate at secondary schools and
many special school pupils travel by car or bus. There are individual variations between schools. Denominational schools for example, will have pupils travelling greater distances, with consequent effects upon their parents’ choice of mode of travel. Additionally, the availability of public transport affects choice: secondary schools accessible through main bus corridors can expect to have significant proportions of pupils travelling by bus. There are also differences between schools in inner and outer city areas. One interesting aspect is that there can be significant changes in individual schools, particularly from year to year, with the change of pupils and new intake.
The preferred mode of travel of pupils is also collected through the school
travel plan surveys. These are carried out as part of producing the
initial plan. From the travel plans produced during 2007/08, 16,450 pupils provided information on their preferred mode of travel. The results are set out in the table below.
The sample indicated that walking and cycling were the preferred mode of travel to school with just 19% stating car travel as their preferred mode, this is 11% below the actual number travelling by car across the city.
Report provided by Birmingham City Council.
Throughout the West Midlands there are a number of weight management interventions that are running that have been commissioned by PCTs through funding from the NHS or DHWM.
As there is, at present, a lack of high quality evidence on effective weight management interventions, DHWM wanted to maximise collective learning and to promote the use of increasingly effective interventions in the future by commissioning research into the 'success' of the interventions in terms of their intended health outcomes - see service specification published January 2009.
The basis of the evaluation will be to use the Standard Evaluation Framework, developed by the National Obesity Observatory and published in March 2009.
The preferred supplier to carry out this research is the University of Worcester, with a team led by Professor Dominic Upton. The Univeristy's submission for this research is also attached.
Progress reports and other key documentation for this project will be made available on this site.
The Healthy Weight Healthy Lives: Consumer Insight Summary published in November 2008, is a summary of the results of research carried out for the Department of Health into families’ attitudes and behaviours relating to diet and activity.
The research was carried out to enable interventions to promote healthy weight in children and families to be more effectively targeted and delivered. It is intended for use by obesity/health weight teams within primary care trusts (PCTs) and local authorities, but will also be of interest to anyone involved in the commissioning or implementation of initiatives aimed at encouraging families to improve their diet and/ or increase their levels of activity.
The report looks at how families can be grouped into clusters based on their attitudes and behaviours to help us understand and target these families, before providing recommendations on developing effective interventions and communications. Quantitative research suggests that, of the six clusters identified, three require specific support and help to improve their children’s diet and physical activity levels.
These clusters were therefore prioritised in the qualitative research and the recommendations that flow from this allow national and local interventions to promote healthy weight to be more effectively targeted and delivered.
Indeed, the three priority clusters are the families who are being targeted initially in Change4Life, the cross-government national marketing programme to promote healthy weight.