Study | Sample | Study design | ATS classification | HRF component(s) and method of assessment | Analyses | Results | Prevalence of ATS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Evenson et al [19] | 4448 adolescents Grades 6-12 United States | Cross-sectional | Walking or riding to/from school at least once/week | BC- Self report BMI z-score (>85th percentile considered overweight) | Logistic regression | Middle school students above the 85th percentile were less likely to use ATS BMI categories not associated with ATS in high school students. | 6th grade- 12.3% 7th grade- 7.5% 8th grade- 8.2% 9th grade- 6.0% 10th grade- 5.7% 11th grade- 4.0% 12th grade- 3.0% |
Tudor-Locke et al [8] | 1518 adolescents 14-16 years Philippines | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (ATS, combination of ATS and PTS or PTS only) | BC- BMI | ANOVA | BMI not associated with ATS in girls. Boys using ATS only had significantly lower BMI values than boys using PTS only. | Boys- 47% (323/691) Girls- 37% (303/827) |
Metcalf et al [26] | 275 children 5 years England | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (ATS or PTS) | BC- BMI and sum of 5 skinfolds | ANOVA | No relationship between ATS and BMI or skinfolds. | Boys- 63% (97/154) Girls- 73% (88/121) |
De Bourdeauhuij et al [30] | 6078 children and adolescents 11-17 years Belgium | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (ATS or PTS) | BC- Self-report BMI z-score (>85th percentile considered overweight) | Independent samples t-test | Overweight youth less likely to use ATS. | Not available |
Fulton et al [21] | 1395 children and adolescents Grades 4 to 6, 7 to 9 and 10 to 12 United States | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school or work (ATS or PTS) | BC- Proxy and self-report BMI | Logistic regression | No association between BMI and ATS. | Boys- 17% (121/727) Girls- 11% (74/668) |
Gordon-Larsen et al [20] | 10771 adolescents Grades 7 to 12 United States | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school or work (ATS or PTS) | BC- BMI | Independent samples t-test | Rates of ATS were higher among non-overweight adolescents. | Â |
Heelan et al [43] | 320 children 10.2 years United States | Cross-sectional | How they travelled to/from school in the past 24 hours (ATS or PTS) and amount of time taken | BC- BMI, average of 3 skinfolds | Multiple regression | Significant association between BMI and ATS in overweight children. No association between skinfolds and ATS. | Boys & girls- 33.3% (107/320) |
Klein-Platat et al [31] | 2714 adolescents 12 years France | Cross-sectional | Walking or riding to/from school- none, 0-20 min/day and > 20 min/day | BC- BMI z-score (>90th percentile considered overweight) and WC | ANCOVA | ATS associated with weight status and WC. | Boys- 40% (543/1357) Girls- 37% (503/1357) |
Sirard et al [22] | 219 children 10.3 years United States | Cross-sectional | Walking or riding to/from school- regular active commuters (>5 times/week), irregular active commuters (1-4 times/week) or passive commuters (0 times/week) | BC- BMI z-score (>85th percentile considered overweight) | ANOVA | No association between weight status and ATS. | Boys- 3% (3/96) Girls- 8% (8/123) |
Cooper et al [32] | 529 children and 390 adolescents 9.7 and 15.5 years Denmark | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school [passive (car, motorcycle, train, bus), bicycle or walk] and duration of journey | CRF- Progressive cycle ergometer | ANOVA | Children and adolescents who cycled to school had higher CRF than those who used PTS. No relationship between walking to school and CRF. | Boys (child)-66% (168/254) Girls (child)- 62% (172/276) Boys (adol)-87.5% (169/193) Girls (adol)-85% (167/196) |
Mota et al [35] | 450 adolescents 14.6 years Portugal | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (ATS or PTS) and duration of journey | BC- BMI z-score (>85th percentile considered overweight) | Bivariate correlation | No association between weight status and ATS. | Boys & girls- 23.1% (105/450) |
Rosenberg et al [23] | 1083 children Grades 4 and 5 United States | Longitudinal | ATS- 2 or more days/week of ATS at each of the 4 assessment periods. | BC- BMI z-score (>85th percentile considered overweight), average of 3 skinfolds | ANOVA | Boys who used ATS at baseline had significantly lower BMI and skinfolds than passive commuters. No association between ATS and weight status in girls. No association between changes in BMI and skinfolds and ATS over 2-year period. | Boys- 36% (116/320) Girls- 29% (79/274) |
Timperio et al [36] | 912 children 5 to 6 and 10 to 12 years Australia | Cross-sectional | ATS at least once per week | BC- BMI z-scores (IOTF classification) | Logistic regression | No association between ATS and weight status. | Boys- 9% (29/316) Girls- 4% (13/361) |
Ford et al [27] | 239 children 5 to 11 years England | Cross-sectional | PST or ATS (walk) for > 10 mins, more than 3 times/week for at least 15 weeks | BC- Air displacement plethysmorgaphy (BodPed Self-Test) | Mann-Whitney U test | No significant difference in body fat between ATS a | Boys- 47% (59/125) Girls- 43% (49/114) |
Li et al [38] | 6826 children and adolescents 7 to 17 years China | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school- walking or riding classified as ATS | BC- BMI z-score (>85th percentile considered overweight) | Cox regression analysis controlling for parental overweight and SES | Overweight youth less likely to use ATS. | Boys & girls- 93.6% (6386/6826) |
Mota et al [34] | 705 adolescent girls 14.7 years Portugal | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school- walking or riding classified as ATS | BC- BMI | Chi-square and bivariate correlation | No association between BMI and ATS. | Boys & girls- 52.6% (371/705) |
Ortega et al [39] | 2859 adolescents 13 to 18.5 years Spain | Cross-sectional | ATS classified as riding/walking to/from school > 15 min/day | BC- BMI z-scores, WC adjusted for height | ANCOVA | Weights status not associated with ATS in boys or girls. Significant association between ATS and WC in girls. | Boys- 9.6% (130/1357) Girls- 13% (189/1502) |
Saksvig et al [24] | 1721 adolescent girls 12.0 years United States | Cross-sectional | Travel by walking on 1 or more weekdays before/after school. | BC- BMI | Linear mixed models | No difference in BMI among those who walked to school and those who did not. | Before school - 13.6% (232/1701) After school 17.7% (301/1701) |
Cooper et al [33] | 384 children 9.7 years Denmark | Longitudinal | Usual travel to/from school (cycle, walk or PTS). | CRF- Progressive cycle ergometer | ANOVA | CRF was significantly higher among children and adolescents who cycled to school at one or both time periods compared to those who used other forms of transport. | Boys- 66% (110/170) Girls- 65% (137/214) |
Landsberg et al [40] | 626 adolescents 14 years Germany | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (ATS or PTS) and duration of journey. | BC- BMI z-score (>85th percentile considered overweight), Sum of 4 skinfolds (triceps, biceps, suprailiacal and subscapular), bioelectrical impedance (fat mass) and WC. | General linear models | ATS associated with lower fat mass and skinfolds. ATS associated with BMI or WC. | Boys- 63% (206/328) Girls- 50% (163/298) |
Robertson-Wilson et al [41] | 21345 adolescents Grades 9 to 12 Canada | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (ATS or PTS). | BC- BMI z-score (>85th percentile considered overweight) | Binary logistic regression | No association between ATS and weight status. | Boys- 44% (4699/10747) Girls- 41% (4378/10598) |
Silva and Lopez [42] | 1570 children 7 to 12 years Brazil | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (ATS or PTS) and duration of journey. | BC- BMI z-scores (IOTF classification) and skinfolds (tri-cipital) | Regression | ATS was associated with a lower prevalence of excess weight and body fat. | Boys- 15% (117/785) Girls- 18% (131/742) |
Yeung et al [37] | 107 children 4 to 12 years Australia | Cross-sectional | ATS at least once/week. | BC- Parental proxy BMI | Mann-Whitney U test | No association between BMI and mode of transportation to school. | Boys- 40% (59/149) Girls- 27% (46/169) |
Andersen et al [15] | 1249 adolescents 15 to 19 years Denmark | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (cycle, walk or PTS). | BC- BMI CRF- Progressive cycle ergometer MF- sit-ups, static back strength, arm flexion dynamic test FL- sit and reach | ANOVA | Cyclists had higher CRF, MF and FL than both walkers and those who use PTS. No relationship between BMI and transportation mode. | Boys- 72% (391/545) Girls- 79% (559/704) |
Baig et al [28] | 673 adolescents 12.6 years England | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (cycle, walk, public transport or bus) and duration of journey calculated. | BC- BMI z-scores (IOTF classification) | Binary logistic regression | No association between ATS and weight status. | Girls 3.6 times more likely to walk to school than boys |
Madsen et al [25] | 5357 adolescents Grades 7 and 9 United States | Cross-sectional | Travel to (day of survey) and from (day before survey) school. | BC- BMI z-scores (CDC >85th percentile considered overweight) CRF- 1 mile run test | Linear regression | ATS was inversely associated with weight status A non-significant (p = 0.07) trend between ATS and CRF was found. | To school - 29% (1554/5357) From school - 46% (2464/5357) |
Voss et al [29] | 6085 children and adolescents 10 to 15.9 years England | Cross-sectional | Usual travel to/from school (cycle, walk, public transport or bus) and duration of journey calculated. | BC- BMI z-scores (IOTF classification) CRF- 20 m shuttle run test | ANOVA | No association between travel mode and BMI. ATS associated with improved CRF. | Boys- 59% (1845/3135) Girls- 57% (1587/2792) |