Factors associated with active commuting to school and to work among Brazilian adolescents

Active commuting has decreased substantially in recent decades and has been more frequent in specific demographic and socioeconomic profiles. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of active trips and the possible associations with demographic and socioeconomic variables.

A questionnaire on lifestyle and risk behavior was administered to a sample population of 5028 adolescents, ages 15 to 19 years, attending public high schools in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Logistic regressions (odds ratio--OR; 95% confidence interval) were used to test associations.

Active commuting to school was reported for 56.7% of students, and active commuting to work was reported for 70.0%. The likelihood of commuting passively was greater among girls (school: OR = 1.27; 1.10-1.45), older adolescents (school: OR = 1.17; 1.02-1.33; work: OR = 1.49; 1.22-1.82), those who lived in rural areas (school: OR = 12.1; 9.91-14.8), those who spent more time in commuting (school: OR = 2.33; 2.01-2.69; work: OR = 4.35; 3.52-5.38), and those from high-income families (school: OR = 1.40; 1.21-1.62; work: OR = 1.69; 1.37-2.08).

The proportion of students taking active trips was higher when going to work than to school. All indicators were associated with the mode of commuting, except gender and place of residence for commuting to work.