Factors associated with active commuting among parents-to-be in Karlskrona, Sweden
Sammanfattning
Aim: The purpose of the present study is to examine the prevalence of active commuting and
factors associated with participation in active commuting in the municipality of Karlskrona, Sweden.
Active commuting is defined here as walking or cycling to and from school/work for at least 15
minutes one-way. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out, which included baseline data from
parents-to-be. Pregnant females and their partners were invited to participate in the study when they
contacted either of the municipality’s two antenatal clinics. Data collection ran from March 2008 to
February 2009. When completing the questionnaire, the participants were asked to reflect on their
situation one month before the female became pregnant. The final sample consisted of 432
participants (response rate 51.9% for females and 85.0% for males). Results: The main mode of
commuting was motor vehicle (63.0%), with active commuters forming a minority (8.3%). The main
facilitating factor for active commuting was living in an urban as opposed to a rural area. Regular
participation in outdoor recreational physical activity was significantly positively associated with
active commuting. Being Swedish and being surrounded by a green space environment were
significantly negatively associated with active commuting. Conclusions: This study found that the
number of people who are active commuters is modest and other modes of transportation are
preferred. Several facilitating and impeding factors associated with active commuting were also
found, indicating the importance of applying a broad health-promoting approach to encouraging active
commuting.