Resource Library

Data are available on correlates of physical activity in children and adolescents, less is known about the determinants of change. This review aims to systematically review the published evidence regarding determinants of change in physical activity in children and adolescents.

This study evaluates the impact of a walking school bus program on children’s rates of active commuting to school and physical activity.

Obesity has become a global public health problem, which also affects children. It has been proposed that the educational interventions during childhood could be a key strategy in the prevention of obesity.

Promoting bicycling has great potential to increase overall physical activity; however, significant uncertainty exists with regard to the amount and effectiveness of investment needed for infrastructure. The objective of this study is to assess how costs of Portland’s past and planned investments in bicycling relate to health and other benefits.

Surveys were used to collect self-reported data on time spent in PA and SB along with direct measurements of BMI and waist circumference from non-Hispanic white (312 males, 301 females) and Hispanic (671 males, 610 females) adolescents (13–17 years old).

This paper investigates gender differences in the associations between adolescent mode choices and travel patterns for the trip to school and levels of physical activity.

The purpose of this paper is to review intervention studies related to active school transportation to guide future intervention research. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention studies of active transportation to school published in the scientific literature through January 2010. 

The objective of this study is to identify the sociodemographic predictors of active transportation to schools across time among school-aged children participating in the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY).

Physical activity is associated with better health. Two sources of activity for children are walking to school and taking part in organized sports and activities. This study uses a large national cohort to examine factors associated with participation in these activities.

Policy changes are needed to reshape the built environment for active transportation.

An extensive body of research exists on environmental influences on weight-related behaviors in young people. Existing reviews aimed to synthesize this body of work, but generally focused on specific samples, behaviors or environmental influences and integration of findings is lacking.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the risks and benefits to health of travel by bicycle, using a bicycle sharing scheme, compared with travel by car in an urban environment.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to identify the common existing international policies established to increase physical activity in children and adolescents; and (2) to examine the extent to which these policies are supported by solid scientific evidence.

Through a multidisciplinary literature review, the authors investigated the association between various built environment attributes and childhood obesity.

This paper assesses the role of existing school physical activity programs for a national cohort from first grade to fifth grade.

Active travel to school (ATS) has been identified as an important source of physical activity for youth. However, the relationship between ATS and health-related fitness (HRF) among youth remains unclear.

Walking or bicycling to school (ie, active commuting) has shown promise for improving physical activity and preventing obesity in youth. The objectives of this paper are to examine, among US youth, whether active commuting was inversely associated with adiposity and positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). 

The significance of this study is to gain a better understanding of adolescent perceptions to explain the role physical activity plays on academic achievement. The intent is to provide additional insight into improving educational and community programs and policies to increase physical activity among adolescents.

This study examined associations of fitness and fatness with cognitive processes, academic achievement, and behavior, independent of demographic factors, at the baseline of an exercise trial.

Key Takeaway: Single, short bouts of moderately-intense exercise like walking can improve cognitive control and attention in children.