Why don’t they walk or cycle? Reflections on active home–school transportation among Portuguese adolescents: the role of environmental perceptions

Abstract

The way adolescents travel to school can be an important health promotion strategy. The main objective of this research was to identify the relationships between the Portuguese adolescents? perception of their neighbourhood and their option for active transportation (AT). The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children 2010 questionnaire, was applied to 3,494 adolescents with an average age of 14.93 (DP?±?1.29), 53.6% of whom were female. The associations were studied by applying ?² tests and multivariate logistic regression models. In this study, 35% of the sample reported walking or cycling to school. AT to school is associated with age, more frequent in the adolescents aged 16 and older (OR?=?1.19, p?