Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2012 Dec 10;9:142. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-9-142.
Cycling to school has been identified as an important target for increasing physical activity levels in children. However, knowledge about correlates of cycling to school is scarce as many studies did not make a distinction between walking and cycling to school. Moreover, correlates of cycling to school for those who live within a distance, that in theory would allow cycling to school, stay undiscovered. Therefore, this study examined individual, social and physical environmental correlates of never and always cycling to/from school among 10 to 12 year old Belgian children living within a 3.0 km distance from school.
850 parents completed a questionnaire to assess personal, family, behavioral, cognitive, social and physical environmental factors related to the cycling behavior of their children. Parents indicated on a question matrix how many days a week their child (1) walked, (2) cycled, was (3) driven by car or (4) public transport to and from school during fall, winter and spring. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the correlates.
Overall, 39.3% of children never cycled to school and 16.5% of children always cycled to school. Children with high levels of independent mobility and good cycling skills perceived by their parents were more likely to always cycle to school (resp. OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.04-1.15 and OR 1.08; 95% CI 1.01-1.16) and less likely to never cycle to school (resp. OR 0.84; 95% CI 0.78-0.91 and OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.7-0.84). Children with friends who encourage them to cycle to school were more likely to always cycle to school (OR 1.08; 95% CI 1.01-1.15) and less likely to never cycle to school (OR 0.9; 95% CI 0.83-1.0). In addition, children with parents who encourage them to cycle to school were less likely to never cycle to school (OR 0.78; 95% CI 0.7-0.87). Regarding the physical environmental factors, only neighborhood traffic safety was significantly associated with cycling: i.e., children were more likely to always cycle to school if neighborhood traffic was perceived as safe by their parents (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.07-1.31).
Individual, social and physical environmental factors were associated with children's cycling behavior to/from school. However, the contribution of the physical environment is limited and highlights the fact that interventions for increasing cycling to school should not focus solely on the physical environment.
骑自行车上学已被确定为提高儿童身体活动水平的重要目标。然而，由于许多研究没有区分步行和骑自行车上学，因此，关于骑自行车上学的相关性的知识很少。此外，对于那些居住在理论上可以骑自行车上学的距离内的人，关于他们骑自行车上学的相关性的研究仍未发现。因此，本研究调查了 10 至 12 岁的比利时儿童中，个人、社会和物理环境因素与居住在离学校 3.0 公里范围内的儿童的上学和放学时的自行车骑行行为之间的关系。
850 名家长完成了一份问卷，以评估与孩子骑行行为相关的个人、家庭、行为、认知、社会和物理环境因素。家长们在一个问题矩阵上指出，在秋季、冬季和春季，他们的孩子（1）步行、（2）骑自行车、（3）开车或（4）乘坐公共交通工具上学和放学的天数。进行多变量逻辑回归分析以检验相关性。
总体而言，39.3%的儿童从不骑自行车上学，16.5%的儿童总是骑自行车上学。家长认为具有较高独立出行能力和良好骑行技能的儿童更有可能总是骑自行车上学（分别为 OR 1.06；95%CI 1.04-1.15 和 OR 1.08；95%CI 1.01-1.16），而不太可能从不骑自行车上学（分别为 OR 0.84；95%CI 0.78-0.91 和 OR 0.77；95%CI 0.7-0.84）。有鼓励他们骑自行车上学的朋友的儿童更有可能总是骑自行车上学（OR 1.08；95%CI 1.01-1.15），而不太可能从不骑自行车上学（OR 0.9；95%CI 0.83-1.0）。此外，有鼓励他们骑自行车上学的父母的儿童不太可能从不骑自行车上学（OR 0.78；95%CI 0.7-0.87）。在物理环境因素方面，只有邻里交通安全与骑自行车显著相关：即，如果父母认为邻里交通是安全的，那么儿童更有可能总是骑自行车上学（OR 1.18；95%CI 1.07-1.31）。
个人、社会和物理环境因素与儿童上下学的自行车骑行行为有关。然而，物理环境的贡献是有限的，这凸显了一个事实，即增加骑自行车上学的干预措施不应仅侧重于物理环境。
