The importance of Active Transportation to and from school for daily physical activity among children

Investigating social inequalities in children's independent mobility, active transportation and outdoor free play in two Canadian cities

Background

Active transportation (AT) and free play (FP) are the primary ways in which children engage in unstructured physical activity in cities, with independent mobility (IM) gaining increased attention as a potential precursor of AT and FP. However, current trends show that children are engaging in less FP and AT, and have less IM, than previous generations and it is not well understood how these practices, and their interrelatedness, differ by neighbourhood-level socio-economic stats (SES) and municipal contexts.

Objectives

This study aims to address the gaps in knowledge by quantifying, comparing, and correlating IM, AT, and FP practices in high and low-SES neighbourhoods within and across the cities of Montreal and Kingston, Canada.

Methods

584 questionnaires were distributed among children in grades 1 to 5, living in low- and high-SES neighbourhoods of these two citiesResultsEngagement in the three practices was low in every study neighbourhood, though all three practices were higher in high-SES compared to low-SES neighbourhoods in both cities. Levels of FP were higher in Kingston compared to Montreal, while AT was higher in Montreal than in Kingston.

Conclusion

This study revealed social inequalities in all three of these practices based on socioeconomic status and city. Since IM is likely a precursor to both independent FP and AT, more research is warranted into how our cities can become more conducive to IM in children, particularly in low SES neighbourhoods where children have less freedom of movement independently and otherwise.

The socio-ecological determinants of change in school travel mode over the transition from childhood to adolescence and the association with physical activity intensity

School active travel contributes to young people's physical activity levels, yet the prevalence is low, and declines with age. Based on determinants from the social-ecological model we investigated changes in school travel behaviour over the transition from childhood to adolescence in participants from the baseline and four-year follow-up of the SPEEDY cohort. Descriptive analysis examined how travel behaviours changed and were related to physical activity. Multinomial logistic regression investigated determinants. Some 38% of participants changed travel mode; 66% from active to passive. Passively traveling participants at follow-up showed a decrease in physical activity. Several social-ecological domains were associated with change. Findings suggest multicomponent interventions are required to support active travel in youth.

LIFESTYLE AND ANTHROPOMETRIC INDICATORS HAVE GREATER ASSOCIATIONS WITH STEPS/DAY IN BOYS THAN IN GIRLS

Objective:

To verify the association of lifestyle, anthropometric, sociodemographic, family and school environment indicators with the number of steps/day in children.

Methods:

The sample consisted of 334 children (171 boys) from nine to 11 years old. Participants used the Actigraph GT3X accelerometer to monitor the number of steps/day, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time (ST) for seven consecutive days. Height, body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and body fat were also measured. Lifestyle indicators such as diet, environment, neighborhood, and parental schooling level were obtained with questionnaires. For the identification of variables associated to the number of steps/day, multiple linear regression models were used.

Results:

The mean steps/day of boys and girls were statistically different (10,471 versus 8,573; p<001). Among boys, the variables associated to the number of steps/day were: MVPA (β=0.777), ST (β=-0.131), BMI (β=-0.135), WC (β=-0.117), and BF (β=-0.127). Among girls, the variables associated to the number of steps/day were: MVPA (β=0.837), ST (β=-0.112), and parents’ educational level (β=0.129).

Conclusions:

Lifestyle indicators, body composition variables and parental educational level influence the number of steps/day of children, and MVPA and ST are common for both sexes.

Longer afterschool active commutes and the travel environment of middle schools in Shenzhen, China

The afterschool commute is a major part of children's daily activity. This study examines the relationship between student extended active travel routes and route environment characteristics. Route environment characteristics may be related to an extended route for students who walk or bike home. Self-reported itineraries were collected from 12 to 15-year old students in 3 middle schools in Shenzhen in May and June (n = 1257). Itineraries involving a detour from the shortest possible route home (n = 437) were compared with the shortest route. A field study coded all possible routes within the school districts by playable open spaces, sidewalk width, controlled crossings, road category, and public transit stops. Binary logistic regression reveals that routes with greater intersection density and number of open spaces are related to active travel choice. Sidewalk width, number of traffic lights and proportion of arterial roads are positively related to motorized travel. Linear regression reveals that travel distance, sidewalk width, number of open spaces and street crossings, as well as the proportion of secondary roads and pathways are positively related to detour distance. Higher numbers of public transit stops and traffic lights are related to shorter detours. Attending cram school is also negatively associated with active travel and detour. Younger students, females and students with longer moderate-to-vigorous physical activity time have extended active travel. Specific route environment characteristics are associated with longer and more active middle school student commutes and may be implemented to raise overall activity levels in children.

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Extended travel home from school is associated with environmental features en route.

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Greater intersection density and open spaces are associated with active travel.

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Gated communities and cram schools are associated with less active travel.

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Distance from school is not significant in the active travel choice.

Pyschosocial factors associated with children's cycling for transport: A cross-sectional moderation study

Promoting children's cycling for transport is a useful strategy to increase their physical activity levels. No studies have examined to which extent children's psychosocial characteristics play a role in their transportation cycling. Furthermore, insights into the association between children's independent mobility (IM) and transportation cycling is lacking in Europe. This study examined (1) the association of children's psychosocial characteristics with transportation cycling and its moderating effect of child's gender, parents' educational attainment and IM, and (2) the association between children's IM and transportation cycling. Children (n=1232, aged 10-12yrs) completed an online questionnaire at school assessing their psychosocial characteristics related with transportation cycling. Parents reported child's usual transportation cycling and the distance their child is allowed to cycle unsupervised (IM). Hurdle models were used to estimate associations between independent variables and odds of being a cyclist and with minutes of transportation cycling among those cycling. Data were collected during November-December 2014 across Flanders, Belgium. Children's perceived parental modeling, parental norm, peers' co-participation, self-efficacy and IM were positively related to the odds of being a cyclist, perceived benefits were negatively associated. Parental modeling, siblings' modeling, self-efficacy and parental norm were more strongly related to the odds of being a cyclist among children with a low IM. Friends' modeling was significantly related with odds of being a cyclist among boys. IM and parental norm (only among boys) were positively related to the time spent cycling. Targeting children, their friends and parents seems therefore most appropriate when aiming to increase children's transportation cycling.

Correlates of children's compliance with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity recommendations: a multilevel analysis

This study aimed to investigate the association between individual and school characteristics associated with the number of school days children comply with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendations. Sample comprises 612 Portuguese children, aged 9-11 years, from 23 schools. Time spent in MVPA was measured by accelerometry, while individual-level correlates were obtained by anthropometry and questionnaires. School-level variables were collected by questionnaire, and accelerometer wear time and season were also considered. Maximum likelihood estimates of model parameters were obtained via a multilevel analysis with children as level-1, and school as level-2. Children who spent more time in sedentary activities and girls were less likely to comply with MVPA/daily. More mature children and those who use active transportation to school were more likely to attain the PA recommendation. Furthermore, greater accelerometer wear time and spring season increased the chance to achieve the recommended MVPA. In terms of school-level correlates, a greater number of available facilities was negatively associated with children MVPA compliance. Given the set of variables, our results showed that individual characteristics seem to be more relevant for children's compliance rates with PA/day than school context variables, which should be taken into account in the implementation of school policies and practices.

A Scoping Review of Observational Studies Examining Relationships between Environmental Behaviors and Health Behaviors

Individual lifestyles are key drivers of both environmental change and chronic disease. We undertook a scoping review of peer-reviewed studies which examined associations between environmental and health behaviors of individuals in high-income countries. We searched EconLit, Medline, BIOSIS and the Social Science Citation Index. A total of 136 studies were included. The majority were USA-based cross-sectional studies using self-reported measures. Most of the evidence related to travel behavior, particularly active travel (walking and cycling) and physical activity (92 studies) or sedentary behaviors (19 studies). Associations of public transport use with physical activity were examined in 18 studies, and with sedentary behavior in one study. Four studies examined associations between car use and physical activity. A small number included other environmental behaviors (food-related behaviors (n = 14), including organic food, locally-sourced food and plate waste) and other health behaviors ((n = 20) smoking, dietary intake, alcohol). These results suggest that research on individual environmental and health behaviors consists largely of studies examining associations between travel mode and levels of physical activity. There appears to be less research on associations between other behaviors with environmental and health impacts, and very few longitudinal studies in any domain.

School-travel by public transit: Rethinking active transportation

Background

Walking and cycling to school is a source of physical activity (PA). Little is known about public transit use for travel to school and whether it is a physically active alternative to car use for those who live too far to walk.

Purpose

To describe school-trip characteristics, including PA, across travel modes and to assess the association between PA with walk distance.

Methods

High school students (13.3 ± 0.7 years, 37% female) from Downtown Vancouver wore accelerometers (GT3X +) and global positioning systems (GPS) (QStarz BT-Q1000XT) for 7 days in October 2012. We included students with valid school-trip data (n = 100 trips made by n = 42 students). We manually identified school-trips and mode from GPS and calculated trip duration, distance, speed, and trip-based moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA; min). We assessed between-mode differences and associations using multilevel regression analyses (spring 2014).

Results

Students accrued 9.1 min (± 5.1) of trip-based MVPA, which was no different between walk and transit trips (p = 0.961). Walking portions of transit trips were similar to walking trips in terms of distance (p = 0.265) and duration (p = 0.493). Walk distance was associated with MVPA in a dose–response manner.

Conclusions

Public transit use can contribute meaningfully toward daily PA. Thus, school policies that promote active school-travel should consider including public transit.

Correlates of sedentary time in children: a multilevel modelling approach

BACKGROUND

Sedentary behaviour (SB) has been implicated as a potential risk factor for chronic disease. Since children spend most of their awake time in schools, this study aimed to identify individual- and school-level correlates of sedentary time using a multilevel approach, and to determine if these correlates have a similar effect in normal weight (NW) and overweight/obese (O/O) children.

METHODS

Sample comprised 686 Portuguese children aged 9-10 years from 23 schools that took part in the ISCOLE project. Actigraph GT3X + accelerometers were used 24 hours/day for 7 days to assess sedentary time (daily minutes <100 counts/min); BMI was computed and WHO cut-points were used to classify subjects as NW or O/O. Sex, BMI, number of siblings, family income, computer use on school days, and sleep time on school days were used as individual-level correlates. At the school level, school size (number of students), percentage of students involved in sports or physical activity (PA) clubs, school promotion of active transportation, and students' access to equipment outside school hours were used. All multilevel modelling analysis was done in SPSS, WINPEPI, and HLM.

RESULTS

School-level correlates explain ≈ 6.0% of the total variance in sedentary time. Results (β ± SE) showed that boys (-30.85 ± 5.23), children with more siblings (-8.56 ± 2.71) and those who sleep more (-17.78 ± 3.06) were less sedentary, while children with higher family income were more sedentary (4.32 ± 1.68). At the school level, no variable was significantly correlated with sedentary time. Among weight groups, variables related to sedentary time in NW were sex, sleep time and family income, while in O/O sex, number of siblings and sleep time were significant correlates. No school-level predictors were significantly associated in either of the weight groups.

CONCLUSION

Notwithstanding the relevance of the school environment in the reduction of children's sedentary time, individual and family characteristics played a more relevant role than the school context in this study.

Are we driving our kids to unhealthy habits? Results of the active healthy kids Canada 2013 report card on physical activity for children and youth

This article examines the time trends in patterns of school travel mode among Canadian children and youth to inform the Active Transportation (AT) indicator of the 2013 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. The AT grade was assigned based on a comprehensive synthesis of the 2000 and 2010 Physical Activity Monitor studies from the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute and the 1992, 1998, 2005, and 2010 General Social Survey from Statistics Canada. The results showed that in 2013, AT was graded a D, because less than half of Canadian children and youth used only active modes of transportation to get to and from school. The proportion of Canadian children and youth who used only inactive modes of transportation for school travel increased significantly from 51% to 62% over the last decade. Children and youth from larger communities and those with lower household income levels were significantly more likely to use AT than those living in smaller communities and those in higher income households, respectively. In conclusion, motorized transport for school travel has increased steadily over the last decade across Canada. Regional and socio-demographic disparities should be considered in efforts to increase the number of children using AT.

Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of active commuting to school in a nationwide representative sample of German adolescents

OBJECTIVE

To assess the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of walking and cycling to school in a nationwide representative cross-sectional sample of German adolescents.

METHODS

A sample of 1828 German adolescents aged 11-17 years were examined between 2003 and 2006. Mode of commuting to school was assessed using a reliable self-report measure. Socioeconomic status, migration background and residential area were assessed as socio-demographic variables using a parent-report questionnaire.

RESULTS

Overall, 19.4% of adolescents walked and 22.2% cycled to school. Compared to girls with high socioeconomic status, girls with low socioeconomic status were more likely to walk (OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.23-2.89). Migration background increased the chance of walking in girls (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.32-0.70) and decreased the chance of cycling in boys (OR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.35-4.24). Compared to living in cities, living in rural areas lowered the chance of walking (girls: OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.18-0.50; boys: OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.32-0.93) and cycling (girls: OR = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.06-0.24; boys: OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.21-0.56), and living in medium-sized towns increased the chance of cycling in girls (OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.24-2.78) and boys (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.20-2.56), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

In Germany many adolescents use motorised transportation. Socio-demographic variables were associated with mode of commuting.