Associations between children's independent mobility and physical activity
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Authors
Schoeppe, S
Duncan, MJ
Badland, HM
Oliver, M
Browne, M
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BioMed Central Ltd.
Abstract
Background: Independent mobility describes the freedom of children to travel and play in public spaces without
adult supervision. The potential benefits for children are significant such as social interactions with peers, spatial
and traffic safety skills and increased physical activity. Yet, the health benefits of independent mobility, particularly
on physical activity accumulation, are largely unexplored. This study aimed to investigate associations of children’s
independent mobility with light, moderate-to-vigorous, and total physical activity accumulation.
Methods: In 2011 - 2012, 375 Australian children aged 8-13 years (62% girls) were recruited into a cross-sectional
study. Children’s independent mobility (i.e. independent travel to school and non-school destinations, independent
outdoor play) and socio-demographics were assessed through child and parent surveys. Physical activity intensity
was measured objectively through an Actiheart monitor worn on four consecutive days. Associations between
independent mobility and physical activity variables were analysed using generalized linear models, accounting for
clustered sampling, Actiheart wear time, socio-demographics, and assessing interactions by sex.
Results: Independent travel (walking, cycling, public transport) to school and non-school destinations were not
associated with light, moderate-to-vigorous and total physical activity. However, sub-analyses revealed a positive
association between independent walking and cycling (excluding public transport) to school and total physical but
only in boys (b = 36.03, p < 0.05). Frequent independent outdoor play (three or more days per week) was positively
associated with light and total physical activity (b = 29.76, p < 0.01 and b = 32.43, p = 0.03, respectively). No significant
associations were found between independent outdoor play and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. When
assessing differences by sex, the observed significant associations of independent outdoor play with light and total
physical activity remained in girls but not in boys. All other associations showed no significant differences by sex.
Conclusions: Independent outdoor play may boost children’s daily physical activity levels, predominantly at light
intensity. Hence, facilitating independent outdoor play could be a viable intervention strategy to enhance physical
activity in children, particularly in girls. Associations between independent travel and physical activity are inconsistent
overall and require further investigation.
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Keywords
Cross-sectional; Active travel; Unsupervised outdoor play; Movement; Young people; Actiheart
Source
BMC Public Health 2014, 14:91
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/14/91
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© 2014 Schoeppe et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.