Because
of decreasing physical activity of children, they are becoming more
obese. Moreover, commuting to school has become more passive during the
past decades. The objective was to update the previous systematic
reviews by narrowing down the topic to body mass index of children (3-12
years) as a representative of body composition. Applying search terms
such as active transport to school, body mass index, childhood obesity,
and so on in four online databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, WorldCat, and
Google Scholar. Peer reviewed English journal papers published between
2005 and 2015 presenting empirical quantitative studies were eligible
studies to be reviewed. 310 journal papers were screened, 27 of which
were reviewed by studying the full text. The final 13 papers were
limited to those that focused only on active commuting to school and
body mass index of children and adolescents. Out of 13 final studies, 3
found conclusive associations, three indicate partial associations in
subgroups or societal or geographical limitations, and seven show no
correlations. The existing literature are still inconsistent, so this
study suggests conducting surveys with larger samples on less-studied
contexts and applying more complex statistical methods for adjusting
some of the variables. It is also argued that this topic can be
culturally and contextually specific.
more about children's mobility and active transportation:
