Active Commuting to School and Association With Physical Activity and Adiposity Among US Youth

Mendoza, Jason A.; Watson, Kathy; Nguyen, Nga; Cerin, Ester; Baranowski, Tom; Nicklas, Theresa A.

doi:10.1123/jpah.8.4.488

Cited by 132 publications

(151 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(37 reference statements)

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“…The main results confirm epidemiologic studies on children's active commuting, which reported positive associations between active commuting and physical activity. [1][2][3]19 These results also confirm positive associations reported from previous walking school bus intervention studies that relied on nonexperimental designs or had small sample sizes but have provided important preliminary data. [15][16][17]19,20 For example, in a quasi-experimental trial, walking school bus children attained ϳ11 more minutes/day of physical activity than control subjects.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…36 Applying the theoretical framework of social cognitive theory at time 1, children's self-efficacy for active commuting was assessed using a 17-item questionnaire (Cronbach's ␣ ϭ 0.75), parents' self-efficacy for allowing their children to actively commute was assessed using a 15-item questionnaire (Cronbach's ␣ ϭ 0.88), and parents' outcome expectations was assessed using a 14-item questionnaire (Cronbach's ␣ ϭ 0.78). 25 …”

Section: Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…maps.google.com using the "Get Directions" function for pedestrians. Because acculturation was associated with Latino children's active commuting to school in cross-sectional studies, 25,35 several proxy measures of acculturation were obtained, including parents' and children's country of origin and parents' years living in the United States. The parent and child acculturation scores were summed to obtain a global measure.…”

Section: Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The GT1M's unidirectional accelerometer measured acceleration in the vertical plane and intensity every minute during the wear periods. To facilitate comparisons to children's physical activity in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1,29,30 data were excluded if they did not meet quality standards. 30 A valid day was defined as Ն10 hours (600 minutes) of accelerometer wear; participants who had at least 1 valid day were included in analyses.…”

Section: Outcome Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 In crosssectional analyses, parent self-efficacy (one's personal sense of control for a behavior) and outcome expectations (the expected outcomes [ie, costs/benefits] of performing the health behavior) for allowing their child to actively commute were positively associated with children's active commuting. 25 To the best of our knowledge, no study has applied a theoretical framework to understand children's active commuting within an intervention study.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Walking School Bus and Children's Physical Activity: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

2011

PEDIATRICS

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WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT:Walking school bus programs have been reported to increase children's active commuting to school and physical activity, but most studies have used nonrandomized designs. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:This article reports preliminary proof of concept that, in a rigorous cluster randomized controlled trial, a pilot walking school bus program improved children's active commuting to school and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. abstract OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a "walking school bus" program on children's rates of active commuting to school and physical activity. METHODS:We conducted a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial among 4th-graders from 8 schools in Houston, Texas (N ϭ 149). Random allocation to treatment or control conditions was at the school level. Study staff walked with children to and from school up to 5 days/week. Outcomes were measured the week before (time 1) and during weeks 4 and 5 of the intervention (time 2). The main outcome was the weekly rate of active commuting, and a secondary outcome was moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Covariates included sociodemographics, distance from home to school, neighborhood safety, child BMI z score, parent self-efficacy/outcome expectations, and child self-efficacy for active commuting. A mixed-model repeated measures regression accounted for clustering by school, and stepwise procedures with backward elimination of nonsignificant covariates were used to identify significant predictors. RESULTS:Intervention children increased active commuting (mean Ϯ SD) from 23.8% Ϯ 9.2% (time 1) to 54% Ϯ 9.2% (time 2), whereas control subjects decreased from 40.2% Ϯ 8.9% (time 1) to 32.6% Ϯ 8.9% (time 2) (P Ͻ .0001). Intervention children increased their minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from 46.6 Ϯ 4.5 (time 1) to 48.8 Ϯ 4.5 (time 2), whereas control children decreased from 46.1 Ϯ 4.3 (time 1) to 41.3 Ϯ 4.3 (time 2) (P ϭ .029). CONCLUSIONS:The program improved children's active commuting to school and daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Pediatrics 2011;128:e537-e544 AUTHORS:

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Outcome Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Walking School Bus and Children's Physical Activity: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

2011

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Active commuting associations with BMI and self-rated health: a cross-sectional analysis of the Healthy Ireland survey

Masterson

Phillips

2022

J Public Health (Berl.)

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Aim Active travel is advised to help meet recommended weekly physical activity levels. However limited research has examined active travel associations with health indicators. The aim of this study is to investigate active commuting associations with BMI and self-rated health (SRH) using data from the Healthy Ireland Survey. Subjects and methods Cross-sectional analysis of data was conducted from a nationally representative study of the Irish population. Participants who worked or attended education (n = 4038) provided information regarding their most common travel mode to work or education and demographic, lifestyle and health characteristics during an interview. Following comparative analysis, multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate associations between active commuting modes and overweight, obesity and SRH. Results Active commuting was associated with decreased likelihood of obesity (AOR 0.69, 95% CI = 0.52, 0.90) relative to non-active commuting. Examination of active commuting mode revealed further reduced obesity risk among cyclists (AOR 0.23, 95% CI = 0.09, 0.56) relative to non-cyclists and among those actively travelling ≥3 km (AOR 0.54, 95% CI = 0.30, 0.98). No associations between active commuting and overweight or SRH were observed. Conclusion Our findings, which indicate an inverse association between active commuting and obesity, represent a significant contribution to the evidence base supporting promotion of active travel for obesity prevention.

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Increasing Children’s Physical Activity During the School Day

Hatfield

Chomitz

2015

Curr Obes Rep

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Insufficient levels of daily physical activity (PA) among children in the USA and worldwide have profound implications for pediatric obesity and children's health and well-being more generally. Public health recommendations highlight the central role that schools play in providing equitable opportunities for PA for all children. This review identifies evidence-based approaches for increasing children's PA throughout the school day and discusses multilevel factors that support implementation of such approaches. Opportunities to increase school-day PA span not only in-school time (e.g., quality recess and physical education, classroom activity breaks) but also time before school (e.g., active commuting initiatives) and after school (e.g., intramural and interscholastic sports programs). For such approaches to impact children's PA, dimensions of implementation such as adoption, fidelity, penetration, implementation costs, and sustainability are critical. Multilevel factors that influence implementation include policies, school environment and organizational factors, teacher and classroom factors, child and family characteristics, and attributes of the PA approach itself. Research and field observations reinforce the importance of understanding challenges specific to working with schools, including multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, limited facilities and staff capacity, and heterogeneity of students. Thus, while schools hold promise as promoters and equalizers of PA engagement for all children, more research is needed on the levers that influence implementation of effective school-based PA policies and programs.

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Active Commuting to School and Association With Physical Activity and Adiposity Among US Youth

Cited by 132 publications

References 34 publications

The Walking School Bus and Children's Physical Activity: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

The Walking School Bus and Children's Physical Activity: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Active commuting associations with BMI and self-rated health: a cross-sectional analysis of the Healthy Ireland survey

Increasing Children’s Physical Activity During the School Day

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