Physical activity and active commuting to elementary school

• Published in: Medicine and science in sports and exercise 2005-12, Vol.37 (12), p.2062-2069
• Main Authors: SIRARD, John R, RINER, William F, MCIVER, Kerry L, PATE, Russell R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bicycling - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data Collection; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Motor Activity; Schools; Space life sciences; Students - statistics & numerical data; Transportation - methods; Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports; Walking - physiology
• ISSN: 0195-9131; 1530-0315
• DOI: 10.1249/01.mss.0000179102.17183.6b

This study was conducted to determine if fifth-grade students who walked or bicycled to school on a regular basis were more physically active than those that did not. The sample consists of 219 fifth-grade students (10.3 +/- 0.6 yr, 44% male, 58% minority) from eight randomly selected urban and suburban elementary schools. Students wore an Acti-Graph physical activity monitor during the same week that they completed a daily survey to report their mode of transportation to and from school. Students were categorized on the number of reported active commuting trips, to and from school, per week (regular;>or=5 (N=11), irregular; 1-4 (N=25), nonactive; 0 (N=183)). Compared with both other groups, regular active commuters accumulated 3% more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; P=0.04) during weekdays. This weekday difference was because of regular active commuters accumulating 8.5% more minutes of MVPA both before and after school (P