摘要：Background. The purpose was to identify presence of restrictive policies, frequency of active commuting to school, beliefs of childhood health and perceived enabling and restrictive factors with regard to students walking/bicycling to school as observed by elementary and middle school principals. Methods. The study used a non-experimental quantitative survey research method. The census consisted of all public and private, elementary and middle schools in three counties in a Midwestern region (n=96). Results. A total of 71 principals completed the survey (74% response rate). Analyses indicated that the actual number of students walking/bicycling to school did not significantly differ between schools with a restrictive policy and schools with no restrictive policy. Overall, the actual number of students walking/bicycling to school was largely underestimated by principals. In addition, principals at schools with higher walking/bicycling rates were significantly more likely to report that students should consider walking/bicycling if residing within one mile, had significantly more enabling environments, and had significantly less restrictive environments.
关键词：School Principals; Students; Physical Activity; Elementary and Middle Schools
