TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2012//
TI  - Bicycling to school is associated with improvements in physical fitness over a 6-year follow-up period in Swedish children
JO  - Preventive medicine
A1  - Chillón, Palma
A1  - Ortega, Francisco B.
A1  - Ruiz, Jonatan R.
A1  - Evenson, Kelly R.
A1  - Labayen, Idoia
A1  - Martínez-Vizcaino, Vicente
A1  - Hurtig-Wennlöf, Anita
A1  - Veidebaum, Toomas
A1  - Sjostrom, Michael
SP  - 108
EP  - 112
VL  - 55
IS  - 2
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To examine whether modes of commuting to school at baseline and changes in commuting were related to 6-year changes in cardiorespiratory fitness in youth. METHODS: A total of 262 (142 girls) Swedish children (9y at entry) were measured at baseline (1998/9) and follow-up (2004/5). Mode of commuting to school was assessed by questionnaire and fitness by a maximal bicycle test. RESULTS: At baseline, 34% of children used passive modes of commuting (e.g., car, motorcycle, bus, train), 54% walked, and 12% bicycled to school. Six years later the percentage of bicyclists increased 19% and the percentage of walkers decreased 19%. On average, children who bicycled to school increased their fitness 13% (p=0.03) more than those who used passive modes and 20% (p=0.002) more than those who walked. Children who used passive modes or walked at baseline and bicycled to school at 6years later increased their fitness 14% (p=0.001) more than those who remained using passive modes or walking at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing initiatives that encourage bicycling to school may be a useful strategy to increase cardiorespiratory fitness of children.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0091-7435
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.05.019
ID  - ref1
ER  -