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Children
Special Issues
Active Transportation and Independent Mobility in Children and Adolescents
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Active Transportation and Independent Mobility in Children and Adolescents

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2020) | Viewed by 17808

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Anne Kerstin Reimers

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Gebbertstrasse 123b, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Interests: phyiscal activity and public health; domain-specific physical activity in children and adolescents; nationwide monitoring of physical activity and its determinants; measurement of physical activity; gender- and diversity-sensitive physical activity promotion

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Active transportation and independent mobility contribute to the level of physical activity in children and adolescents and are associated with a range of physical and psychosocial health benefits. Despite this, we know that many children and young people do not spend much time in active and independent mobility, and instead, they are often driven by their parent or other caregivers. Active transportation and independent mobility during childhood and adolescence are complex behaviors which are influenced by various factors at all socioecological levels. The accurate measurement of both behaviors is a major challenge to researchers and is often based on a combination of different methods. To improve active transportation and independent mobility effective, intervention strategies drawing on the influencing factors should be developed and carefully evaluated.

The goal of this Special Edition is to provide a wide-reaching snapshot of active transportation research in children and adolescents. Thus, this Special Issue is dedicated to describing existing gaps, as well as the achievements made in active transportation research. Both reviews and original research will be considered for publication. Examples include but are not limited to manuscripts discussing temporal trends, levels, intervention strategies, measurement methods, and health and physical activity outcomes of children’s and youth’s active transportation and independent mobility behaviors.

Prof. Dr. Anne Kerstin Reimers
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Temporal trends and determinants of active transportation and independent mobility in children and youth
  • Effectiveness of interventions to promote active transportation and independent mobility
  • Innovative strategies to foster active transportation with digital technologies
  • The use of creative methodologies to capture active transportation and independent mobility
  • The role of active transportation in child development and healthy growth
  • The interplay of active transportation and physical activity in other settings
  • The contribution of active transportation to daily physical activity and meeting physical activity recommendations
  • International comparison of active transportation environments for children and adolescents
  • Critical weighting of risk of accidents and health outcomes of active transportation and independent mobility
  • Children`s perspectives on active transportation and independent mobility

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1763 KiB  
Article
Tracking Children’s Physical Activity Patterns across the School Year: A Mixed-Methods Longitudinal Case Study
by Irfan Khawaja, Lorayne Woodfield, Peter Collins, Adam Benkwitz and Alan Nevill
Children 2020, 7(10), 178; https://doi.org/10.3390/children7100178 - 12 Oct 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3024
Abstract
Despite the breadth of health benefits associated with regular physical activity (PA), many children in the UK are not sufficiently active enough to meet health guidelines, and tend to become less active as they mature into and throughout adolescence. Research has indicated that [...] Read more.
Despite the breadth of health benefits associated with regular physical activity (PA), many children in the UK are not sufficiently active enough to meet health guidelines, and tend to become less active as they mature into and throughout adolescence. Research has indicated that children’s school, home and neighbourhood environments can all significantly influence their opportunities to engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). However, less is known about how children’s MVPA patterns within these key environments may change across the school year. The current mixed-methods case study aims to explore this issue by tracking key stage 2 (KS2) and key stage 3 (KS3) children’s MVPA patterns across the school year. Fifty-eight children (29 boys, 29 girls, KS2 = 34, KS3 = 24) wore an integrated global positioning systems (GPS) and heart rate (HR) monitor over four consecutive days in the first term of school (autumn), before these measurements were repeated in the two remaining school terms (winter–summer). A subsample of children (n = 6–8 per group) were invited to take part in one of six focus groups each term to further explore their PA behaviours and identify the barriers and facilitators to PA. The children’s MVPA was significantly lower (p = 0.046) in term 2 (winter/spring term) than during the warmer terms (autumn and summer). All the locations showed reductions in MVPA in term 2, except indoor MVPA, which increased, and MVPA on foot in the neighbourhood, which remained consistent. Focus groups revealed location, friends, and the variety of options to be associated with MVPA, and poor weather, parental permission, and time limitations to be barriers to MVPA. This mixed-methodological, repeated-measures design study highlights differences in the activity patterns and perceptions of children over the school year. Future studies should implement longitudinal, multi-method approaches to gain deeper insight into how children’s PA behaviours differ over time. Consequently, this can inform future health policies promoting children’s PA throughout the year. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active Transportation and Independent Mobility in Children and Adolescents)
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13 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
Association between Active Travel to School and Depressive Symptoms among Early Adolescents
by Jiayi Gu and Si-Tong Chen
Children 2020, 7(5), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/children7050041 - 02 May 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3090
Abstract
Background: Although much evidence has demonstrated the positive relationship of active school travel (AST) and physical health, little is known about the relationship of AST and mental health indicators among early adolescents, especially in Chinese populations. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the [...] Read more.
Background: Although much evidence has demonstrated the positive relationship of active school travel (AST) and physical health, little is known about the relationship of AST and mental health indicators among early adolescents, especially in Chinese populations. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationship of AST with depressive symptoms and its sex as well as age difference among early adolescents from Shanghai urban areas, China. Methods: 6478 adolescents (mean age = 13.6) in urban area were recruited, of whom boys accounted for 46.2%. A self-reported questionnaire in Chinese was used to collect data on AST and depressive symptoms, and other control variables. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to explore the relationships of AST with depressive symptoms. Results: Of all included participants, 53.2% of adolescents reported being active in AST without sex difference. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 19.2% without sex difference. AST was associated with reporting no depressive symptoms in adolescents (adjusted OR = 1.20, 95%CI: 1.06–1.36). However, the relationship was significant in boys (adjusted OR = 1.34, 95%CI: 1.11–1.60), in those who were grade 8 (adjusted OR = 1.25, 95%CI: 1.01–1.55) and 9 (adjusted OR = 1.29, 95%CI: 1.01–1.65) adolescents. Conclusions: AST may play an important role in preventing depressive symptoms among early adolescents. However, the relationship of AST with depressive symptoms differed by sex and age. More research is encouraged to explore the mechanism linking AST and depressive symptoms among adolescents, especially in different contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active Transportation and Independent Mobility in Children and Adolescents)
11 pages, 595 KiB  
Article
Associations between Public Transport Accessibility around Homes and Schools and Walking and Cycling among Adolescents
by Syafiqah Hannah Binte Zulkefli, Alison Barr, Ankur Singh, Alison Carver, Suzanne Mavoa, Jan Scheurer, Hannah Badland and Rebecca Bentley
Children 2020, 7(4), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/children7040030 - 06 Apr 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3954
Abstract
Good public transport accessibility is associated with active travel, but this is under-researched among adolescents. We tested associations between public transport accessibility and active travel among school-going adolescents (12–18 years; n = 1329) from Melbourne, Australia analysing Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and [...] Read more.
Good public transport accessibility is associated with active travel, but this is under-researched among adolescents. We tested associations between public transport accessibility and active travel among school-going adolescents (12–18 years; n = 1329) from Melbourne, Australia analysing Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity data. Outcomes included main mode of transport to school and accumulating ≥20 min of active travel over the day. Low and high compared to no public transport accessibility around homes were associated with higher odds of public transport use (low (odds ratio (OR): 1.94 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.28, 2.94) high (OR: 2.86 95% CI: 1.80, 4.53)). Low and high public transport accessibility around homes were also associated with higher prevalence of achieving ≥20 min of active travel (low (prevalence ratio (PR): 1.14 95% CI: 0.97, 1.34) high (PR: 1.31 95% CI: 1.11, 1.54)) compared to none. Public transport accessibility around schools was associated with public transport use (low (OR: 2.13 95% CI: 1.40, 3.24) high (OR: 5.07 95% CI: 3.35, 7.67)) and achieving ≥20 min of active travel (low (PR: 1.18 95% CI: 1.00, 1.38) high (PR: 1.64 95% CI: 1.41, 1.90)). Positive associations were confirmed between public transport accessibility and both outcomes of active travel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active Transportation and Independent Mobility in Children and Adolescents)
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11 pages, 1345 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Social Support on Physical Activity in Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Exercise Self-Efficacy
by Zhanbing Ren, Linlin Hu, Jane Jie Yu, Qian Yu, Sitong Chen, Yudan Ma, Jingyuan Lin, Lin Yang, Xiaoyun Li and Liye Zou
Children 2020, 7(3), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/children7030023 - 20 Mar 2020
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 7131
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of social support and self-efficacy with physical Activity (PA) and the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between social support and PA in Chinese adolescents. Participants included a total of 2341 Chinese [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of social support and self-efficacy with physical Activity (PA) and the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between social support and PA in Chinese adolescents. Participants included a total of 2341 Chinese adolescents (aged 12.75 ± 1.46 years). Self-reported instruments, including the physical activity questionnaire for adolescents, the social support revalued scale and the exercise self-efficacy scale, were used to measure physical activity, social support and exercise self-efficacy. Results showed that social support (r = 0.29, p < 0.05) and exercise self-efficacy (r = 0.43, p < 0.05) were significant and positive predictors of PA among Chinese adolescents, and exercise self-efficacy was a significant mediator in the relationship between social support and PA (standardized effect size = 0.15, p < 0.001). Such findings were evident with similar patterns in both male and female adolescents. The findings of this study have indicated the importance of social support and exercise self-efficacy on PA promotion in adolescents, which will aid the development of effective interventions in this population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active Transportation and Independent Mobility in Children and Adolescents)
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