Fitness, Fatness and Active School Commuting among Liverpool Schoolchildren.

Robert J Noonan,Stuart J Fairclough,Lynne M Boddy,Zoe R Knowles

doi:10.3390/ijerph14090995

Abstract

This study investigated differences in health outcomes between active and passive school commuters, and examined associations between parent perceptions of the neighborhood environment and active school commuting (ASC). One hundred-ninety-four children (107 girls), aged 9–10 years from ten primary schools in Liverpool, England, participated in this cross-sectional study. Measures of stature, body mass, waist circumference and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) were taken. School commute mode (active/passive) was self-reported and parents completed the neighborhood environment walkability scale for youth. Fifty-three percent of children commuted to school actively. Schoolchildren who lived in more deprived neighborhoods perceived by parents as being highly connected, unaesthetic and having mixed land-use were more likely to commute to school actively (p < 0.05). These children were at greatest risk of being obese and aerobically unfit (p < 0.01). Our results suggest that deprivation may explain the counterintuitive relationship between obesity, CRF and ASC in Liverpool schoolchildren. These findings encourage researchers and policy makers to be equally mindful of the social determinants of health when advocating behavioral and environmental health interventions. Further research exploring contextual factors to ASC, and examining the concurrent effect of ASC and diet on weight status by deprivation is needed.

Highlights

Childhood obesity and poor health are most prevalent in areas of high deprivation [1,2,3].Physical activity (PA) improves child health, including weight status [4,5] and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) [6]
Compared with children who lived in areas of HD, medium deprivation (MD) children were more likely to commute to school passively (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.35–4.30), live further away from school (
This study examined the association between active school commuting (ASC), body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in Liverpool schoolchildren

Summary

Introduction

Childhood obesity and poor health are most prevalent in areas of high deprivation [1,2,3]. Physical activity (PA) improves child health, including weight status [4,5] and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) [6]. In England, ASC prevalence among schoolchildren has progressively declined since 1995 [9], but remains consistently highest among schoolchildren from deprived backgrounds [10,11,12]. There has been an increasing focus by the UK government to promote and increase ASC among schoolchildren with a view to curbing rising obesity levels [13]. Evidence to support the positive contribution of ASC to children’s weight status is inconsistent [14,15]

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