Do South African Children Actively Commute to School?

There have been expressed concerns of decline in children physical activity, worldwide (1). Only 20% of 13-15 yr old children from 105 different countries met the WHO physical activity guidelines stipulating at least 60 min of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (2). Active transport to school can contribute to children's physical activity and health (3, 4). It helps to maintain healthy weight (4) and improves cardiovascular risk profiles (5) in children and young people. As such, active commuting to school should be promoted as a strategy to promote children's health and well-being (5). While there are several studies (3-7) examining children's active transport to school in many countries, and with different perspectives or focus and contrasting findings, scant information exist in African children, and more specifically, South Africa. In a systematic review of active transportation in Africa among children and youth indicated that active transport research in Africa is in its infancy (8). Thus, this present study examines active commuting to school among South African primary school children in Central Pretoria, where information is lacking. Investigating active transport to school would help to inform public policy concerning physical activity promotion among children. This cross-sectional study involved 1136 primary school children (548 boys and 588 girls) aged 9-13 yr attending public schools in Central Pretoria, South Africa. Detailed of the methods is previously described (9). Commuting physical activity was assessed in the children by asking them how they travel to and from school; and the time spent daily in physically active commutes to and from school. The response alternatives were: 1= Not at all; 2=Less than 15 min; 3=15-30 min; 4=30-45 min; 5=45-60 min; 6=more than 60 min. Overall, 50.0% of the children indicated being regularly driven to school, public transport (12.6%), and school bus (12.4%). However, 19% walked to school while only 4.2% walked and took a bus. Majority (53.4%) of girls are transported to school by car compared to boys (46.5%). About 58.5% spent less than 15 min walking to school; 34% between 15 and 30 min; 3.2% between 30 and 45 min; while few spent between 45 and 60 min to school. Approximately 76% South African children in this study are being transported to school by other means than walking or bicycling (in this case, active commuting), a finding consistent with Puckree et al. (10) study involving South African primary school children in KwaZulu-Natal, in which 72% of the …