Is change in environmental supportiveness between primary and secondary school associated with a decline in children's physical activity levels?

Using a sample of English schoolchildren, we evaluate whether a change in school local area environmental supportiveness between primary and secondary school is associated with changes in active travel behaviours and physical activity levels. Participant's activity levels and travel behaviours were recorded for a week during their primary school final year and secondary school first year. Environmental supportiveness was evaluated using a Geographical Information System. Children attending both a primary and secondary school with a more supportive local environment were more likely to maintain active travel behaviours than those with less supportive environments. However, no trends were apparent with change in school supportiveness and change in physical activity. Policies that focus on the maintenance and uptake of active travel behaviours may help maintain children's physical activity levels into adolescence. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).