Active Commuting to School Among 36, 781 Spanish Children and Adolescents: A Temporal Trend Study

Abstract Background Active commuting to school (ACS) is an important source to increase the total daily physical activity in youth and improve their health. How the ACS rates change along the time is of interest. The objective of this study was to examine trends in the rates of ACS in a large sample of Spanish children and adolescents aged 6–18 years from 2010 to 2017. The study period included the economic crisis in Spain (2008 to 2013) and secondary analysis was conducted to compare ACS rates during and after the economic crisis. Methods To investigate trends in ACS among Spanish children and adolescents, data were obtained from 28 studies conducted across Spain. The study sample comprised 18,343 children (6 to 11.9 years old; 50.5% girls) and 18,438 adolescents (12 to 18 years old; 49.5% girls). The overall trends in ACS were evaluated using multilevel logistic regression analysis. Results The rates of ACS in Spanish children and adolescents did not change significantly during the 2010–2017 period, except a sporadic increase in the rate of ACS in adolescents in 2012–2013. No significant association between the ACS and the economic crisis time period in either children or adolescents were found. These findings are in contrast to recently reported declines in ACS rates in other countries. Conclusions Strong partnerships between researchers, public health practitioners, policy-makers and communities, as well as long-term commitment and evaluations of interventions aiming to increase ACS are necessary to ensure positive results in the long term.