The Associations of Active Travel to School With Physical Activity and Screen Time Among Adolescents: Do Individual and Parental Characteristics Matter?

Caihong Huang,Si-Tong Chen,Youliang Lin,Aamir Raoof Memon,Jin Yan

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.719742

Abstract

Little is known about the relationship of active travel to school (ATS) with physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) by individual and parental characteristics among adolescents, especially in China. To address the research gap, this study aimed to explore the difference of sex, age, living environment, parental occupation and education level in the relationship of ATS with PA and ST among students of grades 7–12 (aged 10–18 years) using cross-sectional data. In 13 cities of Hubei province, China, students from 39 public schools were recruited to engage in the survey. In total, 5,898 students (response rate = 89.6%) were invited into this study. Participants were required to report their ATS (including its types), PA and ST as well as sociodemographic information using a validated questionnaire. Descriptive analyses were used to report the information of all variables. Regression models were used to analyse the relationships of ATS and its types with PA and ST. In a total of 4,128 participants (boys: 50.9%; younger adolescents: 61.9%) included in the final analysis, the proportion of those with ATS was 47.3%. Regarding the types of ATS, walking accounted for over 30%, while cycling was 13.2%. Participants with ATS were more likely to have sufficient PA (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.14–1.39), especially among boys, younger adolescents and those with lower parental education level. However, ATS was not associated with ST (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.86–1.01). Participants with cycling had a higher odds ratio of being physically active (OR for cycling = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.27–1.70; OR for walking = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.06–1.32). The association of ATS types with PA and ST differed by gender, age, living environment and parental educational level as well as occupations. ATS may be a useful approach to increase PA among adolescents, but this should be explained by individual and parental characteristics.

Highlights

A markedly ubiquitous international trend is that only a small proportion of adolescents fulfil the pervasively recognised physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) guidelines [1,2,3,4]
Variations in the Association Between active travel to school (ATS) and PA We further discovered that the relationship of ATS with PA varies according to sex, age, and parental education
We primarily identified that participants engaged in walking or cycling had a greater likelihood of participating insufficient PA compared with their counterparts

Summary

Introduction

A markedly ubiquitous international trend is that only a small proportion of adolescents fulfil the pervasively recognised physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) guidelines [1,2,3,4]. Given the insufficient PA and higher ST among adolescents globally, researchers have sought effective interventions to change these harmful health behaviours [12, 13]. To more effectively promote PA and limit ST among adolescents, active travel to school (ATS) plays a significant role. Roth et al [15] demonstrated that children and adolescents participating in walking or cycling (types of ATS) were more likely to meet the PA recommendation (OR = 1.31). The extant research supports the position that ATS can promote PA among adolescents. Certain researchers have posited that active travellers among adolescents had a reduced chance of spending time in ST [18,19,20], this conclusion contrasted with other studies [21, 22]. By drawing on the available literature, ATS may pose an effective means of increasing PA and decreasing ST, albeit with the relationship between ATS and ST being ambiguous [14]

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