TY - JOUR PY - 2013// TI - Six-year trend in active commuting to school in Spanish adolescents : The AVENA and AFINOS studies JO - International journal of behavioral medicine A1 - Chillón, Palma A1 - Martínez-Gómez, David A1 - Ortega, Francisco B. A1 - Pérez-López, Isaac J. A1 - Díaz, Ligia E. A1 - Veses, Ana M. A1 - Veiga, Oscar L. A1 - Marcos, Ascension A1 - Delgado-Fernández, Manuel SP - 529 EP - 537 VL - 20 IS - 4 N2 - BACKGROUND: Promoting daily routine activities, such as active commuting to school, may have important health implications for young people. PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to examine the secular trend of active commuting to school in Spanish adolescents over a 6-year period (2001-2002 to 2006-2007). We also examined several factors that might explain this trend. METHODS: Data comes from two separate cross-sectional studies, both representatives from the city of Madrid (Spain): AVENA and AFINOS studies. These took place in 2001-2002 and 2006-2007 and included 415 (198 girls) and 891 (448 girls) adolescents aged 13-17, respectively. Commuting to school was assessed using a standardized question about their habitual mode of transportation to school: walking, cycling, bus/subway, car, or motorcycle. Chi-square and binary logistic regression were used. RESULTS: Percentage of active commuting girls decreased significantly from 61 % to 48 % (p = 0.002) from 2001-2002 to 2006-2007. Walking declined from 61 % to 46 % and the use of bus/subway increased from 25 % to 37 % in girls. Girls belonging to average/small families had lower odds of being active commuters than girls of large families (OR, 95 % CI: 0.69, 0.48 to 0.98). There were no significant differences in mode of commuting to school for boys (p = 0.269). CONCLUSION: Spanish adolescent girls in 2007-2008 had lower levels of active commuting to school, mainly walking, than their counterparts 6 years before. Belonging to a large family was related with higher active commuting in girls.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1070-5503 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9267-9 ID - ref1 ER -