Regresar

Personal and environmental factors are associated with active commuting to school in Spanish children

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to analyse the associations of personal and environmental factors with mode of commuting to school in children. A total of 745 schoolchildren (363 girls) aged 6-12 years from the province of Granada (Spain) participated in the study. Participants completed a questionnaire about mode of commuting to school, personal factors (i.e. barriers to walking to school, enjoyment on the way to school, who they go to school with) and environmental factors (i.e. time from house to school, distance to school, and safety on the way). A total of 57.2% children walked to school, 40.3% used the car, 1.2% motorcycled, .7% used the bus and .6% bicycled. Travelling alone to school [Odds ratio (OR), 10.049; 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.950 - 25.567], living close to the school (OR, 16.439; 95%CI, 5.717- 47.271) and perceiving a safe way to school (OR, 2.365; 95%CI, 1.665- 3.360) were associated with active commuting to school.