O1-4 Validation of questions to assess the mode of commuting to/from school for children according to their parents: the PACO study

Background The active commuting to school behaviour is an opportunity to increase the physical activity levels. The most frequent used tool to assess the mode of commuting to school is self-reporting by children or by their parents. However, there is a lack of information about the validity between both, children and parents. So, the purpose is to validate the questions of mode of commuting to go and come back from school of children according to their parents'. Method A total of 611 parents (mean age: 43.28±6.25 years old) and their children (mean age: 11.44±2.77 years old) from Granada (Spain) completed a family (mode of commuting of children reported by parents as part of the Family PACO questionnaire) and a student questionnaire validated (Chillon et al., 2017) (mode and frequency of commuting to and from school questionnaire), respectively, in two measurement points. The questions from the ‘Family PACO questionnaire' are: “How does your child usually go to school?” and “How does your child usually come back?”; and the questions from the ‘mode and frequency of commuting to and from school questionnaire' are: “How do you usually go to school?” and “How do you usually go from school?”. The validation between parents and childreńs questions was analysed using Kappa and Spearman correlation coefficients. The results of the kappa are considered as: poor agreement (0-0.20), acceptable agreement (0.21-0.40), moderate agreement (0.41-0.60), substantial agreement / good (0.61-0.80) and almost perfect / very good agreement (0.81-1.00) (Landis & Koch, 1977). The Spearman correlations coefficients were interpreted as low (> 0.30), moderate (0.30-0.50), and high (> 0.50) (Van Dyck, Cardon, Deforche, & De Bourdeaudhuij, 2015). Results The validity of questions from both questionnaires about mode of commuting presented high coefficients of validation (Kappa coefficient; 0.865 to school and 0.839 from school and Spearman correlation; rho=0.882 to school and rho=0.860 from school). Conclusion The questions about the mode of commuting to/from school from the ‘Family PACO questionnaire’ are valid method. Therefore, the use of the questions would be recommended to assess children's mode of commuting

School-Based Interventions for Promoting Physical Activity Using Games and Gamification: A Systematic Review Protocol

Games and/or gamification seem to be a promising area for educational and health research. These strategies are being increasingly used for improving health indicators, even in educational settings; however, there is little information about these terms within the school to promote physical activity (PA). Objective: the aim of this study is to describe a systematic review protocol of school-based interventions for promoting PA in pre-schoolers, children, and adolescent students using games and gamification. Methods: This review protocol is registered in International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) (CRD42019123521). Scientific databases include PubMed, Web of Science, SportDiscus, Cochrane Library, ERIC, and PsycINFO. A standardized procedure will be executed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol (PRISMA-P) checklist for conducting systematic review protocols and the PICOS (Population, Interventions, Comparators, Outcomes, and Study design) tool to address an appropriate search strategy. Detailed information will be extracted, including a quantitative assessment using effect sizes to compare the interventions and a qualitative assessment using the Evaluation of Public Health Practice Projects (EPHPP) tool. Conclusion: This systematic review protocol contributes to establishing future systematic reviews using games and gamification strategies in school settings in order to examine their effect on PA outcomes among youth. Additionally, an update and clarification on the different terms in the school context have been included

Active Commuting to School among Spanish Preschool Children : A Temporal Change Study between 2013 and 2017 †

Altres ajuts: University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigación 2016, Excellence Actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES); the Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades; and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)Background: Active commuting to school may increase the total daily physical activity and achieve health benefits among preschool children. Rates of active commuting to school among Spanish children and adolescents have been widely analysed, while the rates of active commuting to school among Spanish preschool children are unknown. Aim: The main objective of this study was to examine the changes in the rates of active commuting to school in a sample of Spanish preschool children between 3 and 6 years old from 2013 to 2017. Methods: Data were found from five studies carried out across Spain. The study sample comprised 4787 preschool children (4.59 ± 0.77 years old; 51% males). The overall changes in active commuting to school were assessed using multilevel logistic regression analysis. Results: The rates of active commuting to school in Spanish preschool children are around 52%, and the active commuting to school rates have stayed stable throughout the period assessed (odds ratio from 0.40 to 0.58, all p > 0.05). Conclusion: In preschool children, the present study obtained a favourable result on active commuting to school, showing a pattern stability in the examined period similar to other ages. It will be of great importance to promote this behaviour to obtain high levels of active commuting to school

Testing the Mystic School Mobile Application to Promote Active Commuting to School in Spanish Adolescents: The PACO Study

Active commuting to and/or from school (ACS) is an opportunity to increase daily physical activity (PA) levels in young people. Mobile-device interventions focused on promoting the practice of health-related PA can be more cost-effective than traditional interventions in this population. Objective: To analyze the adolescents’ opinion of the mobile application (app) Mystic School, which was designed to promote ACS in Spanish adolescents. Methods: A total of 44 students (14–15 years old) from Granada and Jaén participated in the test of the Mystic School app during two phases: phase 1 (n = 10) for 2 weeks and phase 2 (n = 34) for 1 month. Each phase included an app presentation, a follow-up, and focus group sessions. The qualitative analysis was carried out through NVivo software. Results: In phase 1, adolescents reported improvements in the design and functioning, such as the avatar movement, virtual steps utilities, and multiplayer function. These suggestions were included in phase 2. After phase 2, adolescents reported that it is important to add the possibility of playing without an Internet connection to the game, to include more competitive options, prizes, and to increase the difficulty of the levels. In both phases, problems with the step number counting remained. Conclusion: The Mystic School app can be a useful tool for the physical education teacher to integrate the content from this curriculum related to the promotion of PA, such as ACS

Convergent Validation of a Self-Reported Commuting to and from School Diary in Spanish Adolescents

The aim of this study was to examine the convergent validity of self-reported diary times for commuting to and from school with device-measured positional data (Global Positioning System; GPS) in Spanish adolescents. Methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained from four Spanish public secondary schools in 2021, comprising 47 adolescents and 141 home-school and school-home trips. Participants self-reported the time they left and arrived at home and school through a commuting diary. They wore a GPS device recording the objective time during three trips (i.e., one home-school trip and two school-home trips). Agreement between commuting diary and GPS data regarding home-school trips and school-home trips was evaluated using Bland-Altman plots. Results: Total commuting time differed by 1 min (95% limits of agreement were 16.1 min and -18.1 min) between subjective and objective measures (adolescents reported 0.8 more minutes in home-school trips and 1 more minute in school-home trips compared to objective data). Passive commuters reported 0.7 more minutes and active commuters reported 1.2 more minutes in the total commuting time compared to objective data. Conclusions: Self-reported commuting diaries may be a useful tool to obtain commuting times of adolescents in epidemiological research or when tools to measure objective times are not feasible

El desplazamiento activo al centro educativo e indicadores de salud asociados: protocolo de evaluación del estudio PACO «Pedalea y Anda al Colegio» y su aplicación en educación secundaria

Es fundamental elaborar un protocolo de evaluación para garantizar rigor y homogeneidad en cualquier estudio de investigación.Asimismo, se requieren consideraciones específicas si la investigación se desarrolla en contexto educativo y en diferentes centroseducativos. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo describir el protocolo de evaluación del estudio de investigación titulado: Estudio PACO«Pedalea y Anda al COlegio». Además, se aportan recomendaciones globales y aplicaciones prácticas en el contexto educativo. El principalobjetivo del estudio PACO es fomentar el comportamiento de desplazamiento activo entre estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoriapara mejorar los niveles de actividad física y otros indicadores de salud asociados. Por ello, el protocolo de evaluación incluye lametodología e instrumentos específicos para evaluar en los adolescentes variables como: 1) modo de desplazamiento al centro educativoy otros factores psicosociales asociados a dicho desplazamiento mediante el cuestionario PACO alumnos, 2) barreras familiares para eldesplazamiento activo al centro educativo mediante el cuestionario PACO familias, 3) características antropométricas (peso, talla,perímetro de cintura y de cuello), 4) niveles de actividad física y gasto energético evaluados mediante acelererometría y 5) característicasde la ruta real casa-colegio registradas mediante Sistema de Posicionamiento Global. La transparencia en la metodología y logísticanecesaria para evaluar dichas variables en contexto educativo, es la clave para garantizar el rigor y la homogeneidad en futuras implementaciones,ya sean estas realizadas por investigadores o docentes. Finalmente, los datos obtenidos, serán fiables y relevantes para implementarestrategias educativas que fomenten la salud integral de los adolescentes.It is essential to develop an evaluation protocol to develop rigor and homogeneity in any research study. Likewise, someconsiderations are specifically needed if the research is carried out in an educational context and in different schools. This work aims todescribe y the evaluation protocol of the research study entitled: PACO Study «Cycle and Walk to School». In addition, it provides globalrecommendations and practical applications in the educational context. The main objective of the PACO Study is to promote thebehaviour of active commuting among students of Compulsory Secondary Education to improve their physical activity levels and otherassociated health indicators. For this reason, the evaluation protocol includes the specific methodology and instruments for evaluatingvariables such as: 1) mode of commuting to school and other psychosocial factors associated with active commuting through the PACOstudent questionnaire, 2) family barriers to active commuting to school through the PACO families questionnaire, 3) anthropometriccharacteristics (weight, height, waist and neck circumference), 4) levels of physical activity and energy expenditure evaluated byaccelerometry and 5) characteristics of the real home-school route through a Global Positioning System. The transparency in themethodology and logistic necessary to evaluate the variables in the educational context is key to evaluate the rigor and homogeneity infuture implementations, whether they are carried out by researchers or teachers. Finally, the obtained data will be reliable and relevant toimplement educational strategies in order to promote an integral health of the adolescents

A school-based randomized controlled trial to promote cycling to school in adolescents: The PACO study

“Cycling and Walk to School” (PACO, by its Spanish acronym) that aims to promote cycling to and from school and physical activity (PA) in adolescents. This study will examine the effects of this intervention in cycling and active commuting to and from school (ACS), PA and several ACS-related factors based on self-determination theory (SDT) and a social-ecological model (SEM). A total of 360 adolescents attending six high schools (three experimental and three control) from three Spanish cities will participate in this randomized controlled trial. The intervention (four cycling sessions; 1–2 h per session, one session per week) will be conducted by the research staff; the control group will continue their usual activities. PA levels will be measured by accelerometers, whereas ACS and the other study variables will be self-reported using questionnaires at baseline and post-intervention. The primary outcomes will be: rates of cycling to school, ACS and PA levels. In addition, SDT-related variables and individual, interpersonal, community, and environment variables relevant to ACS will be based on SEM. The findings will provide a comprehensive understanding of the short-term effects of this school-based intervention on cycling to school behaviour, ACS and PA levels in Spanish adolescents