title: Seasonal and socio-demographic determinants of school commuting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report prevalence of commuting to school in Norway with regard to season, gender, parental education level, ethnicity and distance to school.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional questionnaire data from the Fruits and Vegetables Make the Marks project collected in 2008, including 1339 ten to twelve-year-old children from 27 schools. The participants were categorized according to main mode of commuting to school in the three different school seasons (fall, winter and spring) and for the full school year if more than 50% of all trips were conducted by one specific mode.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most pupils (75%) were categorized as active commuters for the full school year. However, large seasonal variances were observed, especially for cycling. A total of 52%, 3% and 51% were categorized as cyclists in fall, winter and spring, respectively. Girls were more likely to be walkers (32% vs. 24%) and less likely to be cyclist (32% vs. 41%) than boys. Children of parents with higher education were more likely to be cyclist in fall (57% vs. 42%) and spring (56% vs. 40%), however, they were more likely to be walkers during winter time (71% vs. 56%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most children reported that they were active commuters. Large seasonal variation was observed, especially regarding cycling.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. line.borrestad@uia.no
authors.forename: Line A B
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Børrestad
authors.forename: Lars B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Elling
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bere
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001642:Bicycling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D018986:Motor Vehicles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway; D012574:Schools; D012621:Seasons; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods*; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data