Active transportation and bullying in Canadian schoolchildren: a cross-sectional study

BMC Public Health

William Pickett²  Wendy Craig³  Ian Janssen¹  Atif Kukaswadia⁴  Ioana Cozma⁴ 

[1] School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada;Clinical Research Centre, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada;Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada;Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston K7L 3N6, ON, Canada

关键词: Physical activity;    Health promotion;    Health behaviours;    Child;    Bullying;    Adolescent;    Active transportation;   

Others  :  1127902
DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-1466-2

 received in 2014-02-19, accepted in 2015-01-26,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Bullying is a recognized social problem within child populations. Engagement in childhood bullying often occurs in settings that are away from adult supervision, such as en route to and from school. Bullying episodes may also have a negative impact on school childrens’ decisions to engage in active transportation.

Methods

Using a cross-sectional design, we analyzed reports from the 2009/10 cycle of the Canadian Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study. Records from this general health survey were obtained for 3,997 urban students in grades 6–10 who lived in close proximity of their school and were hence ineligible for school bussing. Students who indicated walking or bicycling to school were classified as engaged in active transportation. Victims and perpetrators of bullying were defined using standard measures and a frequency cut-off of at least 2–3 times per month. Analyses focused on relations between bullying and active transportation, as well as barriers to active transportation as perceived by young people.

Results

27% of young people indicated being victimized, and 12% indicated that they engaged in bullying. Girls were more likely to be victimized than boys, and younger students were more likely to be victimized than older students. Engagement in active transportation was reported by 63% of respondents, of these, 68% indicated that worrying about bullying on the way to school was an impediment to such transportation methods. Victimization by bullying (adjusted OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.00 – 1.59) was reported more frequently by children who used active transportation.

Conclusions

Health promotion efforts to promote engagement in active transportation of students to school have obvious value. The potential for modest increases in exposure to bullying should be considered in the planning of such initiatives.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Cozma et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

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