Environmental and Psychosocial Barriers Affect the Active Commuting to University in Chilean Students

Abstract

Biking and walking are active commuting, which is considered an opportunity to create healthy habits. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the main environmental and psychosocial barriers perceived by students, leading to less Active Commuting (AC) to university and to not reaching the Physical Activity (PA) recommendations. Material and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1349 university students (637 men and 712 women) were selected. A self-reported questionnaire was applied to assess the mode of commuting, PA level and barriers to the use of the AC. Results: Women presented higher barriers associated with passive commuting than men. The main barriers for women were “involves too much planning” (OR: 5.25; 95% CI: 3.14–8.78), “It takes too much time” (OR: 4.62; 95% CI: 3.05–6.99) and “It takes too much physical effort “ (OR: 3.18; 95% CI: 2.05–4.94). In men, the main barriers were “It takes too much time” (OR: 4.22; 95% CI: 2.97–5.99), “involves too much planning” (OR: 2.49; 95% CI: 1.67–3.70) and “too much traffic along the route” (OR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.47–2.93). Psychosocial barriers were found in both sexes. Conclusion: Psychosocial and personal barriers were more positively associated with passive commuting than environmental barriers. Interventions at the university are necessary to improve the perception of AC and encourage personal organization to travel more actively.

Sustainable Mobility Issues of Physically Active University Students: The Case of Serres, Greece

“…As green consciousness was recorded, active transport could also be promoted as an eco-friendly option. Female students proved to be more environmentally sensitive, confirming the literature, and the findings are in line with those of other scholars, suggesting that targeting women [21] and offering ample opportunities for developing environmentally focused interventions could increase active travel.…”

“…Being already physically active, this group engages in more physical activity on their own initiative either by habit, for health and physical status, or the high esteem of self-benefits from exercise. This research sheds light on whether active transport could meet the needs for more physical activity beyond academic obligations and whether gender differences are present, as the literature suggests for other faculty students [21].…”

“…Research is also gaining ground on active commuting to universities and its association with psychosocial factors and physical activity levels in university students [15][16][17][18]. Demographic and environmental factors are being investigated as well [19][20][21]. Moreover, given the EU research priority of integrating gender as a paramount factor for the development of a sustainable transport system, responsive to the needs and constraints of all areas of society [22], much focus has been invested on the gender issues in mobility all over the world, including the USA, Asia, and Australia [23][24][25][26], as well as Europe [27,28].…”

Promoting Sustainable Mobility: Impact of an Urban Biking Programme on University Students

“…For all of the above reasons, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of an urban bicycle programme for Chilean university students attending courses in Fundamental Formation of Self-Care and Healthy Lifestyle (SHL), as well as to promote instances of knowledge and use of the bicycle that favour an increase in its use as a means of transport, given that in Chilean reality there is a low level of use of bicycles [41].…”

New Self-Report Measures of Commuting Behaviors to University and Their Association with Sociodemographic Characteristics

“…Similarly, in Brazil, active commuting was associated with low income in work population [ 29 ], but university students were not studied. In Chile, the university students revealed that personal factors were more influencing than environmental aspects to using active commuting [ 30 ].…”