The Association Between Adolescent Active Commuting to School and Parent Walking Behavior: The FLASHE Study

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Pediatric Health
• Physical Activity Research

Background:

• Adolescent physical activity levels are crucial for long-term health outcomes.
• Active commuting to school (ACS) is a significant contributor to daily physical activity in adolescents.
• Understanding factors influencing ACS, such as parental behavior, is essential for promoting healthy lifestyles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between adolescent active commuting to school (ACS) and parental walking activity.
• To determine if parental walking habits influence the likelihood of adolescents walking or biking to school.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study utilizing US nationwide online surveys.
• 1367 parent-adolescent dyads from the FLASHE study participated.
• Logistic regression analysis adjusted for sociodemographic and other covariates.

Main Results:

• 28.5% of adolescents reported ACS at least once weekly.
• Adolescents whose parents walked ≥3 days/week were significantly more likely to engage in ACS (ORs 1.98-1.81).
• The strongest association was observed in father-son dyads, with higher odds of ACS when fathers walked ≥3 days/week.

Conclusions:

• Parental walking activity is positively associated with adolescent active commuting to school.
• Parental physical activity may exert intergenerational influences on adolescent health behaviors.
• Promoting parental walking could be a strategy to increase adolescent ACS and overall physical activity.