Transport to School Habits, Physical Activity and Weight Status in Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Active transport (AT) to school is a means for adolescents to increase the amount of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and can help them achieve physical activity (PA) guidelines. This study compared PA in adolescents using AT only (n=73), motorised transport (MT) only (n=185) or active and motorised transport (AT+MT) (n=56) to school and examined the association of adolescents’ transport modes to school, MVPA and weight status.

Methods: Adolescents (n=314; age: 14.7±1.4 years; 67.2% female) from twelve Dunedin secondary schools completed the online BEATS Student Survey and reported sociodemographic characteristics and transport to school habits. Height and weight were measured. MVPA was objectively-measured using 7-day accelerometry.

Results: Compared to MT only, higher proportions of adolescents in AT only and AT+MT met PA guidelines (AT only: 47.9%; AT+MT: 46.4%; MT only: 33.5%, p=0.048). Compared to MT only, AT only accumulated more MVPA daily (AT only: 61.2±23.2; MT only: 52.5±19.6 min, p=0.004) and during an average school day (AT only: 65.3±22.4; MT only: 54.4±19.1 min, p<0.001) but not on an average weekend day (AT only: 50.9±36.2; MT only: 46.8±33.7 min, p= 0.679). Compared to MT only, AT only and AT+MT accumulated more MVPA an hour before school (8am-9am) (AT only: 12.7±7.5; AT+MT: 9.8±6.7; MT only: 5.6±4.3 min; p<0.001) and after school (3pm-4pm) (AT only: 13.3±6.4; AT+MT: 9.9±5.3; MT only: 8.4±5.1 min; p<0.001), but not late after school (4pm-8pm) (AT only: 14.2±9.5; AT+MT: 16.7±11.9; MT only: 14.8±10.1 min; p=0.377). No significant associations were observed between weekly, school day and weekend day MVPA (all p>0.05), weight status and transport modes to school in adolescents.

Conclusions: Adolescents using AT only and AT+MT to school accumulated more MVPA during school commute times compared to MT only, contributing to their higher overall PA levels. AT+MT to school is also a plausible way to increase PA in adolescents when AT only is not feasible due to distance to school.