Healthy Walking for School Children: Examining the Impact of Fast-food Restaurants inside the Walk Zone of Elementary Schools in Calgary

Walking to school is a potentially healthy activity, yet it may expose school children to potentially unhealthy behaviors. The presence of fast-food restaurants within school walksheds may promote unhealthy eating behaviors. Children who walk to school may be more exposed to this risk than those who commute in a vehicle (school bus or family vehicle). Fast-food restaurants provide ample opportunities for adults as well as for children to consume less expensive but unhealthy and energy dense food. Easy access to fast-food restaurants may be one of the many factors determining how walkable a neighborhood is but the location of fast food restaurants in the walkshed of schools may contribute to the rise in obesity in children. The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) has designated walk zones (1.2 km for elementary and 2.4 km for junior high age group students) where school transportation service is not provided. We focus on elementary students only. School addresses were obtained from the City of Calgary’s Open Data. After geocoding the addresses, we perform spatial analysis to define 1.2 km walkshed area around elementary schools and determine the location and number of fast-food restaurants within and outside of this walkable distance. Out of 495 fast-food places, 423 are located within 1.2 km from school. We compared the children (4.5 to 7 years old) overweight and obesity rates living inside and outside of the walk zone for each residential community of the City of Calgary and found the spatial variation across the city. Further investigation is needed to quantify the impact of fast-food outlet/restaurants inside the walk zone of elementary schools in Calgary.