Is walking to school associated with improved metabolic health?

Abstract

BackgroundActive commuting to/from school is an important source of physical activity that has been declining over the past years. Although it is an affordable and simple way of increasing physical activity levels it is still unclear whether it has enough potential to improve health. Therefore, the aim of this cross sectional study was to examine the relationship between active commuting to/from school and metabolic risk factors in 10 to 12 year old children.MethodsParticipants were 229 adolescents, selected through consecutive sampling, (121 girls) with mean age of 11.65 (±0.73) years old from Porto, Portugal. Means of transport to/from school was accessed by asking: ”How do you usually travel to school?” and “How do you usually travel from school?”. Active commuting was considered if children reported at least one of the trips (to or from school) by active means. Total physical activity was obtained with Actigraph accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. Lipid profile measurements were conducted with Cholestech LDX® analyser. Waist circumference and blood pressure were measured by standard methods. The criteria for metabolic syndrome defined by International Diabetes Federation for children and adolescents were used.ResultsAdjusted binary logistic regression analysis suggested that walkers have higher odds to have a better waist circumference (OR = 2.64, 95% CI = 1.63-6.01) and better high density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.01-4.52) profiles than non-active commuters, independent of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. No associations were found for other metabolic risk factors.ConclusionsExertions to increase and maintain walking to school may be particularly relevant as it is likely to have a positive impact on children’s health and eventually decrease metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.

Results from the United States’ 2014 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

“…[42][43][44] NHANES data 42 suggest U.S. students would accumulate an extra 4.5 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day if they spent 30 minutes per day actively commuting to and from school. Since 1969, the proportion of elementary and middle school students walking or biking to school fell 35 percentage points, from 47.7% to 12.7%.…”

Results From Nigeria’s 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

“…[1][2] In view of the important role played by physical activity (PA) in overall health promotion, and the decline in PA among children and adolescents, [3][4][5][6][7] it becomes crucial for each society to review opportunities available to promote increased PA among their children and youth.…”

Results From Portugal’s 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

“…11 It was also possible to identify walking as the main pattern of transportation to school while cycling was found to be unusual in Portuguese children. 12 Additionally, in countryside regions it was found that around 30% of children (n = 3000) aged 7-to 8-years-old commuted either by foot or by cycling on a regular basis during school days 13 ). Distance emerged as a significant predictor of active commuting to school as increased distances were associated with higher levels of passive transportation to school.…”