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. 2016 Dec 5:75:33319.
doi: 10.3402/ijch.v75.33319. eCollection 2016.

Active commuting to school in Finland, the potential for physical activity increase in different seasons

Jouni Kallio  1 , Salla Turpeinen  2 , Harto Hakonen  2 , Tuija Tammelin  2
Affiliations

Active commuting to school in Finland, the potential for physical activity increase in different seasons

Jouni Kallio et al. Int J Circumpolar Health. .

Abstract

Background: Active commuting to school (ACS) can be a significant source of physical activity and provide many health benefits.

Objective: This study identified the potential to increase physical activity levels by promoting ACS in Finnish schools and evaluated the effects of season, distance and age on ACS.

Design: Data were collected with a questionnaire from 5,107 students, aged 10-16, in 45 comprehensive schools in Finland. The distance and the mode of transport to school in different seasons were self-reported.

Results: The prevalence of ACS was over 80% during spring/fall for those living 0-5 km from school. ACS was inversely associated with the distance to school and was lower in winter compared to spring and fall. Cycling is less common in winter, especially among girls and younger students. The potential for increasing students' physical activity levels via ACS seems to be largest in winter, especially among students living 1-5 km from school. The variation in the prevalence of ACS between schools was large, especially in winter.

Conclusions: When planning interventions to promote ACS, one is encouraged to acknowledge and evaluate the potential in the selected target schools in different seasons. The potential varies largely between schools and seasons and is highly dependent on students' commuting distances.

Keywords: active travel; children; cost-effect; travel mode; winter.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The prevalence of students commuting actively (walking or cycling combined) to school (%) according to the distance to school. Results are presented separately for different seasons and age groups: spring/fall (circle) and winter (square), grades 4–6 (single line) and grades 7–9 (dashed line).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The prevalence of students walking (A) or cycling (B) to school according to the distance to school. Results are presented separately for different seasons and age groups: winter (W; squares) and spring and fall (SF; circles) months for grades 4–6 (single line) and 7–9 (dashed line).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The potential targets and gains for interventions to promote physically active commuting to school in relation to the whole student population. The total height of the bar represents the proportion of the student population living 0–1.0 km, 1.1–2.0 km and 3.1–5.0 km from school. The values on the black bars indicate the proportion of passive commuters (expressed as % of whole student population). Next to the bicycle and walker symbols are the minutes of daily physical activity that would be added for both transportation modes and for each distance (calculated as an average of each range).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The prevalence of active commute to school in 10 suburban schools in different seasons for students living 1–2 km from school. Differences between schools with the highest and lowest ACS prevalences in spring/fall (A) and winter (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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