Drs. Richard Larouche and Mark Tremblay are co-authors on a paper, “Assessing the Influence of the Transition from Primary to Secondary School on the Volume of Active School Transport and Physical Activity: A Prospective Pilot-Study,” that was recently published in Bioenergetics. Citation details are below. Click here to read the full article for free.
Larouche R, Faulkner GEJ, Tremblay MS. Assessing the Influence of the Transition from Primary to Secondary School on the Volume of Active School Transport and Physical Activity: A Prospective Pilot-Study. 2013. Bioenergetics 2: 105.
ABSTRACT: Objectives. Active school transport (AST, e.g. the use of non-motorized travel modes such as walking and cycling to travel to/from school) is increasingly promoted as a source of physical activity (PA) in children and youth. This prospective pilot-study assessed the: 1) test-retest reliability of a novel measure of the volume of AST; 2) changes in AST and pedometer-determined PA across the transition from primary to secondary school; and 3) associations between AST and PA at both time points. Methods. 55 grade 6 students were recruited from 4 primary schools in Ottawa (Canada) in May/June, 2012. They were asked to complete a diary indicating their mode of transport to/from school for 1 week, and wear a SC-StepMX pedometer for 8 consecutive days. 48 study packages were returned at baseline and 29 at follow-up (September/October 2012). For the test-retest assessment, a separate sample of 22 participants completed the diary during 2 consecutive weeks. Results. The weekly volume of AST (e.g. number of active trips X distance) showed high test-retest reliability (ICC=0.87). There were significant decreases in the proportion of children categorized as active travelers (57% to 46%), and in step counts (16,578 ± 3,758 to 14,071 ± 3,680 steps/day) across the school transition. However, in participants reporting at least 1 active trip at both time points (n=11), the volume of AST increased with a moderate effect size (d=0.52), but this change was not statistically significant. While no dose-response association between the volume of AST and PA was evident (probably due to limited statistical power), a gender-adjusted ANOVA indicated that active travelers accumulated an additional 2,207 steps/day at follow-up. Conclusion. These findings suggest that future research is needed to quantify changes in AST across the school transition, and to determine if AST can attenuate the commonly-observed decline in PA levels from childhood to adolescence.
