title: Passive commuting and dietary intake in fourth and fifth grade students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Promoting active commuting by walking or biking to and from school could increase physical activity and reduce obesity among youth. However, exposure to the retail food environment while commuting may lead to greater dietary intake among active commuters.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between commute patterns and dietary intake and quality in elementary students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourth and fifth grade students (N=3,316) in 44 California schools reported commute modes to and from school and dietary intake for the same 24-hour period in 2012. Differences between active and passive commuters in total energy intake (kcal), energy from purchased foods, and energy from sweets and snack-type foods were compared, stratified by after-school program (ASP) participation (analysis conducted in 2013).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-three percent of youth actively commuted to school; 27% actively commuted from school. Passive commuters, 87% of whom traveled by car, consumed 78 more kcal from purchased foods (p<0.01) than active commuters in the 24-hour period, though total energy intake did not differ by commute mode overall or by ASP participation. Among the 72% of students who did not attend an ASP, passive commuters consumed 56 more kcal from purchased foods (p<0.01) and 25 more kcal from sweets and snack-type foods (p=0.02) than active commuters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Passive commuters consumed more sweets and snack-type foods and more purchased foods than active commuters. These results, which suggest that parents are providing unhealthy foods for their children during the school commute, reinforce the need for multilevel strategies to promote energy balance in youth.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley. Electronic address: madsenk@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Kristine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cotterman
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Hannah R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Yedida
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rissman
authors.affiliation: Atkins Center for Weight and Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Nila J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute, Oakland, California.
authors.forename: Lorrene D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Ritchie
mesh_terms: D001642:Bicycling; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D002149:Energy Intake; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D044469:Racial Groups; D062410:Snacks; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods*; D016138:Walking