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Modes of commuting to university and reasons for mode choice among Chilean students

Fernando Rodríguez, Yaira Barranco-Ruiz, Carolina Cruz León, Emilio

Villa-González, Ximena Palma-Leal, Palma Chillón

Active Commuting


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Age-standardized prevalence of overweight and obesity among persons 18+ years old

USA

MEXICO

CHILE

World Health Organization. Global Health Observatory data repository. Obesity (body

mass index >= 30) (age-standardized estimate). Data by WHO region [Internet]; 2014. Available from: http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.2461A?lang=en.

http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.2461A?lang=en


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More that 40% of young population in

Chile is classify as overweight or obese

26.7% overweight20.2% obese

46.9%

22.3% overweight22.1% obese

44.4%

National Comprehensive Health Program for Adolescents and Youth. Ministry of Health. Chile, 2012. http://www.minsal.cl/programa-salud-integral-adolescentes-y-jovenes/

The average PA per week is 4.3 hours

Classified as inactives according to WHO

http://www.minsal.cl/programa-salud-integral-adolescentes-y-jovenes/


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Incorporate active commuting into everyday

life, such as walking or cycling or combined

with public transport or car

in adult and young population

Active commuting

PALevels

NCD’SRisks

PALevels

AC TO UNIVERSITY

(Del Duca et al.,2016; Foley L et al.,2015)

ACLevels

Molina-García J et al.,2015

Overweight/obesity


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A total of 496 university students (21.270.25 years; 69%

women) were recruited via convenience sampling in class

University students belonging to two different universities of the Central Coast of Chile:• Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV, n=346, 69,8%) • Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM, n=150, 30.2%)

Participants completed a paper-based questionnaire personal data• usual mode of commuting to and from university• main reasons to choose the mode of commuting


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The usual mode of commuting to and from university was assessed by two questions:

a) How do you usually go from your residence to university?

b) How do you usually go from university to your residence?

Response options were similar to those previously used in other studies with similar age-groups (Shannon T, et al., 2006; Molina-García J, Castillo I, Sallis JF, 2010; Molina-García J, Sallis JF, Castillo, 2014)

• walking

• by bike

• by car

• by bus

• by motorcycle

• others

• combined (i.e., at least two modes of transport)

Participants were classified

• As “active” if they commuted to and/or from university in an active mode

• As “passive” if they commuted to and from university in a passive mode

Participants who answered “combined” (go=1.6%; from=1.8 %) or “others” (go and from= 5%) were excluded

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Open-ended question, after usual mode of commuting questions

• Why do you usually go to university in this way?_______________________

• Why do you usually go back from university in this way?_________________

Statistical analysis

Comparisons between mode of

commuting and reasons to

choice mode of commuting

go/from university were analysed by McNemar test.

Significance level was set p<0.05


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Activecommuters(n=152)

31%Passivecommuters

(n=307)

69%

COMMUTETO/FROMUNIVERSITY

Activecommuters(n=152)

Passivecommuters(n=307)

USUAL MODE OF COMMUTING TO/FROM UNIVERSITY

(Molina-García J, et al 2010 and 2014)

(Shannon T, et al., 2006)

“ First choice: train/metro/tram”

“ Second choice: public transport”

“Spanish university students (7.5 %)”

“Australian university students (10.6 %)”

The least used

mode of

commuting


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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

shortdistance

appropriatedistanceto

commute

comfortabletransport

economytransport

shorttraveltime

healthytransport

Mainreasonsformodeofcommutingchoiceinactivecommuters

gotouniversity

gobackfromuniversity

REASONS FOR MODE OF COMMUTING CHOICE

No statistical differences between go and go back from university


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cuss

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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

longdistance

shorttraveltime

comfortabletransport

economytransport

onlymodeoftransportation

shortdistance

physicaldifficulties

otherreasons

Mainreasonsformodeofcommutingchoiceinpassivecommuters

gotouniversity

gobackfromuniversity

REASONS FOR MODE OF COMMUTING CHOICE

Longer distances Have been presented in previous literature as the main

barrier for active commuting in:

children (Babey SH et al., 2009)

youth population (Mandic S et al., 2015; Panter J et al., 2008)

adults (Foley L et al 2015)

university students (Shannon T et al 2006)

No statistical differences between go and go back from university


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University students from Valparaíso (Chile) are mainly passivecommuters choosing the bus as the main mode of commuting to andfrom universityDistance was the most common reason determining students' modeof commuting to universityLong distances was the main reason to choose passive modes ofcommuting to/from university

Thank you!


Fernando Rodríguez, PhD, Yaira Barranco-Ruiz PhD, Carolina Cruz León M.Sc, Emilio Villa-González PhD, Ximena Palma-Leal M.Sc, Palma Chillón PhD.

Modes of commuting to university and reasons for

mode choice among Chilean studentsFernando Rodríguez, PhD, Yaira Barranco-Ruiz PhD, Carolina Cruz León M.Sc, Emilio Villa-González PhD,

Ximena Palma-Leal M.Sc, Palma Chillón PhD.

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