Systematic review of active transportation to school in youth – an update from Brazil’s Report Card

Eduardo Rossato De Victo,Danilo Rodrigues Da Silva,Dirceu Solé,Gerson Ferrari,André Oliveira Werneck,Tatiane Kosimenko Ferrari Figueiredo

doi:10.1590/1980-0037.2021v23e81169

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to update a systematic review on the use of active transportation to school in Brazilian children and adolescents. All studies were extracted from the LILACS; BIREME; SCIELO and MEDLINE. The search was carried out on manuscripts published in the period 2018-2019. The descriptors were used in Portuguese, English and Spanish. In overall, 8 manuscripts were included in this systematic review, with 1 presenting data from three periods (2009, 2012 and 2015). The study data were obtained between 2009 and 2015 and the age group found between 7 to 19 years old. Of the selected articles, 2 presented national data, 1 from the north, 2 from the northeast, 1 from the southeast and 2 from the south of Brazil. The use of active transportation was superior to passive transportation on 6 occasions and its use was common in boys than in girls (4 of 6 articles). The use of active transportation is still more common than passive transportation in most Brazilian regions, although some cities have the opposite. The results suggest that the prevalence of active transportation is higher in boys than girls. Public policies must be created to favor the use of active transportation among Brazilian youth.

Highlights

The potential health effects caused by the use of active transportation and the factors associated with its use are increasingly being investigated[1,2]
The present study aims to update this systematic review[6], with data from publications made in the years 2018 and 2019, describing the use of active transportation in Brazil and providing differences between sex
A systematic search of Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), Regional Library of Medicine (BIREME), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SCIELO), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), through PubMed was conducted by the authors (ERV, TKFF, and GF)

Summary

Introduction

The potential health effects caused by the use of active transportation and the factors associated with its use are increasingly being investigated[1,2]. A multicenter study, carried out in 12 countries in the world, including Brazil, showed that children who reported the use of active transportation were less likely to be obese, in addition to having a lower body mass index, lower fat percentage and waist circumference[1]. Knowing its favorable health effects, the interest of researchers in the area of physical activity grows for strategies and interventions that promote the use of active transportation in cities[2,5]. These interventions are generally made in high-income countries and data on countries low and middle income groups are scarce. Note that the pattern of transportation varies from according to the demographic and cultural context, such as in rural, urban or even island areas, in addition to socioeconomic differences and human development index between cities[6]

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