The Association Between Adolescent Active Commuting to School and Parent Walking Behavior: The FLASHE Study

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the relationship between adolescent active commuting to school (ACS; walking or biking to/from school) and parent walking activity.

Design

Cross-sectional

Setting

US nationwide online surveys

Sample

1367 parent-adolescent (12-17 years) dyads among the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) study participants (29.4% response rate)

Measures

Online surveys asked about adolescent ACS and parent walking activity in the past week. Adolescents who reported ACS at least once in the past week were categorized as engaging in ACS. Parent walking frequency was categorized into 0-2, 3-5, and 6-7 days.

Analysis

Logistic regression analysis was conducted to compare the probability of adolescent ACS by parent walking activity, adjusted for sociodemographic factors and adolescent-, parent-, and neighborhood-level covariates.

Results

28.5% of adolescents engaged in ACS at least once in the past week. Compared to 0-2 days/week of parent walking activity, ORs for adolescent ACS for 3-5 and 6-7 days/week of parent walking activity were 1.98 (95% CI=1.38-2.87) and 1.81 (1.23-2.68), respectively. In stratified analyses by parent and adolescent sex, father-son dyads presented the strongest association between adolescent ACS and parent walking 3-5 and 6-7 days/week (ORs=4.17 [1.46-11.91] and 3.95 [1.45-10.77], respectively).

Conclusions

Adolescents with parents who engaged in walking activity ≥3 days/week were more likely to actively commute to school. Parent walking activity may have positive intergenerational effects on adolescent ACS and physical activity.