Cross sectional analysis of the association between mode of school transportation and physical fitness in children and adolescents

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Research

Lars Østergaard¹  Lars Bo Andersen¹  Sigmund A Anderssen²  Elin Kolle²  Jostein Steene-Johannessen³ 

[1] Center for Research in Childhood Health, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230, Odense, Denmark;Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, 0806, Oslo, Norway;Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, 0806, Oslo, Norway;Faculty of Teacher Education and Sports, SognogFjordane University College, 6851, Sogndal, Norway;

关键词: Walking;    Cycling;    Commuting;    Transport;    Adiposity;    BMI;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1479-5868-10-91

 received in 2012-12-04, accepted in 2013-06-20,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveTo investigate the associations between body composition, cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness in relation to travel mode to school in children and adolescents.MethodChildren and adolescents from 40 elementary schools and 23 high schools representing all regions in Norway were invited to participate in the study. Anthropometry, cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness were tested at the school location. Questionnaires were used in order to register mode of transport to school, age, gender and levels of leisure time physical activity.ResultsA total of 1694 (i.e. 60% of all invited participants) children and adolescents at a mean age of 9.6 and 15.6 respectively (SD = 0.4 for both groups) were analyzed for associations with physical fitness variables. Males cycling to school had lower sum of skin folds than adolescents walking to school. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents and male cyclists compared to walkers and passive commuters were observed. Among children, cycling and walking to school, higher isometric muscle endurance in the back extensors compared to passive commuters was observed.ConclusionBased on this national representative cross-sectional examination of randomly selected children and adolescents there is evidence that active commuting, especially cycling, is associated with a favourable body composition and better cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness as compared to passive commuting.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Østergaard et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013