Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Dec;20(4):529-37.
doi: 10.1007/s12529-012-9267-9.

Six-year trend in active commuting to school in Spanish adolescents. The AVENA and AFINOS Studies

Palma Chillón  1 , David Martínez-Gómez, Francisco B Ortega, Isaac J Pérez-López, Ligia E Díaz, Ana M Veses, Oscar L Veiga, Ascensión Marcos, Manuel Delgado-Fernández
Affiliations

Six-year trend in active commuting to school in Spanish adolescents. The AVENA and AFINOS Studies

Palma Chillón et al. Int J Behav Med. 2013 Dec.

Abstract

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011 Jan 26;8:5 - PubMed
    1. BMJ. 2005 Nov 5;331(7524):1061-2 - PubMed
    1. Am J Prev Med. 2009 Mar;36(3):195-200 - PubMed
    1. Prev Med. 2008 Jan;46(1):60-2 - PubMed
    1. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Feb;42(2):281-7 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources