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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research article

School travel mode, parenting practices and physical activity among UK Year 5 and 6 children

Authors: Russell Jago, Lesley Wood, Simon J Sebire, Mark J Edwards, Ben Davies, Kathryn Banfield, Kenneth R Fox, Janice L Thompson, Ashley R Cooper, Alan A Montgomery

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

Background

School travel mode and parenting practices have been associated with children’s physical activity (PA). The current study sought to examine whether PA parenting practices differ by school travel mode and whether school travel mode and PA parenting practices are associated with PA.

Methods

469 children (aged 9-11) wore accelerometers from which mean weekday and after-school (3.30 to 8.30 pm) minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) and counts per minute (CPM) were derived. Mode of travel to and from school (passive vs. active) and PA parenting practices (maternal and paternal logistic support and modelling behaviour) were child-reported.

Results

Children engaged in an average of 59.7 minutes of MVPA per weekday. Active travel to school by girls was associated with 5.9 more minutes of MVPA per day compared with those who travelled to school passively (p = 0.004). After-school CPM and MVPA did not differ by school travel mode. There was no evidence that physical activity parenting practices were associated with school travel mode.

Conclusions

For girls, encouraging active travel to school is likely to be important for overall PA. Further formative research may be warranted to understand how both parental logistic support and active travel decisions are operationalized in families as a means of understanding how to promote increased PA among pre-adolescent children.
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Metadata
Title
School travel mode, parenting practices and physical activity among UK Year 5 and 6 children
Authors
Russell Jago
Lesley Wood
Simon J Sebire
Mark J Edwards
Ben Davies
Kathryn Banfield
Kenneth R Fox
Janice L Thompson
Ashley R Cooper
Alan A Montgomery
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-370

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