Patterns of health behaviour associated with active travel: a compositional data analysis

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioural Science
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Active travel (walking/cycling) is linked to better adult health.
• Limited understanding exists on concurrent health behaviours associated with active travel.
• This study explores time-use patterns in relation to active travel.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in daily time-use composition between individuals who do and do not engage in active travel.
• To identify specific behavioural patterns associated with active travel using compositional data analysis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized cross-sectional data from the UK Harmonised European Time Use Survey (2014/15).
• Analyzed one diary day of activity for 6143 participants (aged 16+).
• Employed compositional multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and regression models to compare time-use compositions.

Main Results:

• A significant difference in time-use composition was found between active travellers and non-active travellers.
• Active travellers reported relatively more time in leisure moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and travel.
• Active travellers reported relatively less time in leisure sedentary screen time and sleep.

Conclusions:

• Active travel was associated with a greater amount of daily leisure MVPA (11 min more) and less screen time (18 min less).
• Individuals engaging in active travel also reported reduced sleep duration.
• Overall, active travel correlates with a health-promoting time-use composition, supporting its public health benefits.