Richard Larouche (PhD candidate) has co-written an e-letter with Drs. Guy Faulkner (University of Toronto) and Mark Tremblay (Director) titled, “Toward a FITT formula for quantifying active school transport,” that was recently published in Pediatrics.
From the e-letter:
In physical activity research, the FITT formula (e.g. frequency, intensity, type and time) is often used to calculate the volume of physical activity. We believe that researchers interested in quantifying the association between active school transport (AST) and health-related outcomes should use a similar formula. Frequency could be defined as the number of times per week that participants use a given mode of transport. Type would be the mode of transport itself – this variable is important to consider because youth who cycled to/from school have been shown to be fitter than those who walked. Due to potential biases in the estimation of travel time, distance between participants’ home and the school that they attend should be used as a proxy for time. Finally, before more precise data on the intensity of AST becomes available, researchers might consider using the metabolic equivalent (MET) values from the Compendium of Energy Expenditure for Youth.
Click here to read the e-letter in full.
