Active or Passive Commuter? Discrepancies in Cut-off Criteria among Adolescents

Javier Zaragoza, Ana Corral, Sergio Estrada, Ángel Abós and Alberto Aibar
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Javier Zaragoza: CAPAS-City (Centre for the Promotion of PA and Health), University of Zaragoza, 22001 Huesca, Spain
Ana Corral: Faculty of Human Sciences and Education, University of Zaragoza, 22003 Huesca, Spain
Sergio Estrada: CAPAS-City (Centre for the Promotion of PA and Health), University of Zaragoza, 22001 Huesca, Spain
Ángel Abós: Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Huesca, 22001 Spain
Alberto Aibar: CAPAS-City (Centre for the Promotion of PA and Health), University of Zaragoza, 22001 Huesca, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-12

Abstract: Active commuting to school has health implications for young people. Previous research has shown the need to consistently define the concept of “active commuter”, given that assessment as well as comparison between studies may be hindered by current discrepancies in frequency criteria. Using a sample of 158 Spanish students (12th–13th grade, 60.8% girls), the current study aimed to compare several cut-off criteria to rigorously identify the frequency of weekly active trips to school in order to categorize adolescents as active or passive commuters, and to analyze whether the threshold living distance to school is associated with the different trip cut-off criteria. Percentages of active commuters ranged from 75% to 88.6%, varying significantly depending on the cut-off criteria (5–10 active trips/week) used. The results also support the need to be stricter in the selection of a cut-off criterion when the distance to the school becomes shorter. Our findings highlight the importance of following a standard criterion to classify individuals as active or passive commuters, considering the characteristics of the context in which each study is conducted.

Keywords: active commuting; adolescents; cut-off criteria; distance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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