title: Active school transport and weekday physical activity in 9-11-year-old children from 12 countries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Active school transport (AST) may increase the time that children spend in physical activity (PA). This study examined relationships between AST and weekday moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), sedentary time (SED) and total activity during naturally organized time periods (daily, before school, during school and after school) in a sample of children from 12 countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 6224 children aged 9-11 years. PA and sedentary time were objectively measured using Actigraph accelerometers. AST was self-reported by participants. Multilevel generalized linear and logistic regression statistical models were used to determine associations between PA, SED and AST across and within study sites.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustment for age, highest parental educational attainment, BMI z-score and accelerometer wear time, children who engaged in AST accumulated significantly more weekday MVPA during all studied time periods and significantly less time in LPA before school compared with children who used motorized transport to school. AST was unrelated to time spent in sedentary behaviors. Across all study sites, AST was associated with 6.0 min (95% confidence interval (CI): 4.7-7.3; P<0.0001) more of weekday MVPA; however, there was some evidence that this differed across study sites (P for interaction=0.06). Significant positive associations were identified within 7 of 12 study sites, with differences ranging from 4.6 min (95% CI: 0.3-8.9; P=0.04, in Canada) to 10.2 min (95% CI: 5.9-14.4; P<0.0001, in Brazil) more of daily MVPA among children who engaged in AST compared with motorized transport.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrated that AST was associated with children spending more time engaged in MVPA throughout the day and less time in LPA before school. AST represents a good behavioral target to increase levels of PA in children.
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Denstel
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Broyles
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Larouche
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes , Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: O L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Sarmiento
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Department of Exercise Science, University of Syracuse, Syracuse, NY, USA.
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Barreira
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chaput
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Church
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fogelholm
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: St Johns Research Institute , Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuriyan
authors.affiliation: St Johns Research Institute , Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurpad
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, University of Cape Town , Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia , Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.affiliation: CIFI2D, Faculdade de Desporto, University of Porto , Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos do Laboratório de Aptidão Física de São Caetano do Sul (CELAFISCS) , São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Matsudo
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia , Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olds
authors.affiliation: Department of Recreation Management and Exercise Science, Kenyatta University , Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Onywera
authors.affiliation: Department for Health, University of Bath , Bath, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Standage
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Department of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tudor-Locke
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Women's and Children's Health Center , Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Katzmarzyk