Currently, physical activity levels among schoolchildren are alarmingly low, and sedentary behavior is high, leading to negative health issues according to the scientific evidence,both in the present and future. We can increase physical activity in young people in different domains, and active commuting (walking, biking, skate-boarding, etc.) is one of them. It is important to increase active commuting to different destinations, but also specifically active commuting to school because is a daily, universal, and mandatory destination. Furthermore, is an ideal space to promote physical activity in children and adolescents because the teachers are experts in teaching new knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes.
Active commuting to school not only contributes o increase the children’s physical activity levels, but also would develop the children’s autonomy and social competences. Additionally, it provides greater safety around school and reduces pollution, a major cause of many childhood respiratory diseases such as asthma and allergies. In order to increase active commuting to school, there are different personal and social factors that need to be addressed. Among them, the psychosocial factors related to the motivation are very important. Self-determination theory states that to achieve more autonomous forms of motivation, we must satisfy the basic psychological needs. Within social factors, parents are the main decision makers about their children mode of commuting, and they are responsible to allow their children actively commute to school. Developing interventions aimed at these perceptions taking into account the motivation is necessary.
Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to develop an educational intervention based on a learning situation to increase active commuting to school in children in 3rd cycle of Primary education, aimed at developing children’s autonomous motivation and reducing barriers. To achieve this purpose, five phases will be implemented: 1) Preparation and contact with participating schools; 2) Cross-sectional study: gathering quantitative data (based on validated questionnaires and scales), and qualitative data (based on eight focus groups), about the motivation and the barriers perceived by children, parents and teachers towards children’s active commuting to school, in a sample of 250 children and their parents, and teachers; 3) Co-creation of materials and resources, which will materialize in the development of a learning situation to promote active commuting to school and different destinations, that will compose the intervention, following the sequencing established by the PRODUCES strategy; 4) Intervention study: implementation of the learning situation developed in 3 schools in Andalusia, followed by an evaluation of its implementation, maintenance in the school and the potential transfer to other schools in Andalusia; and 5) Analyses of the results of the learning situation on the motivation and barriers of the involved agents (children, parents and teachers), and dissemination of all the results.
The main purpose is to provide a guide of resources and materials and a learning situation, as well as the methodology for its creation for teachers, that may be feasible to implement in other schools and, consequently, contribute to increasing children’s physical activity levels through active commuting to school and different destinations, and to increase children’s autonomy and other associated social and environmental benefits.
This project is funded by the Junta de Andalucía and by the European Union through European Funding FEDER (C-SEL-190-UGR23).
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