title: Active transportation and bullying in Canadian schoolchildren: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bullying is a recognized social problem within child populations. Engagement in childhood bullying often occurs in settings that are away from adult supervision, such as en route to and from school. Bullying episodes may also have a negative impact on school childrens' decisions to engage in active transportation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a cross-sectional design, we analyzed reports from the 2009/10 cycle of the Canadian Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study. Records from this general health survey were obtained for 3,997 urban students in grades 6-10 who lived in close proximity of their school and were hence ineligible for school bussing. Students who indicated walking or bicycling to school were classified as engaged in active transportation. Victims and perpetrators of bullying were defined using standard measures and a frequency cut-off of at least 2-3 times per month. Analyses focused on relations between bullying and active transportation, as well as barriers to active transportation as perceived by young people.
  
  
  RESULTS
  27% of young people indicated being victimized, and 12% indicated that they engaged in bullying. Girls were more likely to be victimized than boys, and younger students were more likely to be victimized than older students. Engagement in active transportation was reported by 63% of respondents, of these, 68% indicated that worrying about bullying on the way to school was an impediment to such transportation methods. Victimization by bullying (adjusted OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.00 - 1.59) was reported more frequently by children who used active transportation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health promotion efforts to promote engagement in active transportation of students to school have obvious value. The potential for modest increases in exposure to bullying should be considered in the planning of such initiatives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada. ioana.cozma@medportal.ca.
authors.forename: Ioana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cozma
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada. atif.kukaswadia@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Atif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kukaswadia
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada. ian.janssen@queensu.ca.|School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. ian.janssen@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. wendy.craig@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada. will.pickett@queensu.ca.|Clinical Research Centre, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada. will.pickett@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pickett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001642:Bicycling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058445:Bullying; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*