{
  "abstract": "IntroductionActive commuting to school, such as walking or cycling, represents an accessible opportunity for children and adolescents to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines. This study examined the prevalence of active, mixed, and passive commuting to school and the demographic, behavioral, and contextual correlates of commuting mode among school-aged students in Greece.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted between early 2024 and April 2025 among school-aged students (N = 20,932) recruited from public schools in the metropolitan regions of Attica and Thessaloniki, Greece. Data were collected using structured questionnaires assessing commuting mode, organized and non-organized physical activity, perceived barriers to active commuting, and home-to-school distance. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the independent associations of demographic, behavioral, and contextual characteristics with commuting mode, with active commuting as the reference category.ResultsAmong participants with valid commuting data, 68.8% were classified as active commuters. Active commuters reported higher levels of non-organized physical activity than passive commuters (p < .001). Home-to-school distance showed the strongest association with commuting mode, with the odds of mixed and passive commuting increasing progressively across distance categories. Higher perceived barriers were also associated with greater odds of mixed (aOR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.57–1.93) and passive commuting (aOR = 2.40, 95% CI 2.20–2.62) relative to active commuting.DiscussionActive commuting was common in this large school-based sample, and commuting mode was associated with home-to-school distance, perceived barriers, physical activity participation, and organized sport participation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece",
    "Physical Education and Sports, Division of Humanities and Political Sciences, Hellenic Naval Academy, Piraeus, Athens, Greece",
    "Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Serres, Greece",
    "Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, Trikala, Greece"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Konstantinos Karakatsanis"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Konstantinos Karakatsanis"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ioannis Trigonis"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Gerasimos V. Grivas"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ioannis Tsartsapakis"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Aglaia Zafeiroudi"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e6n5j2e5jpjf0.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fphys.2026.1848228",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2026.1848228/full",
  "id": "e6n5j2e5jpjf0",
  "issns": [
    "1664-042X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2026.1848228",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "QP1-981"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-06",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media S.A.",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e6n5j2e5jpjf0.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T14:21:05Z",
      "native_id": "01a4e12464fd4d1cbf0254e6c4b8ba63",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2026.1848228"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "lcc:QP1-981",
      "subfield": "physiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Active commuting to school and physical activity participation in children and adolescents: evidence from a large cross-sectional study in Greece",
  "title_text": "Active commuting to school and physical activity participation in children and adolescents: evidence from a large cross-sectional study in Greece",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T14:21:05Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e6n5j2e5jpjf0",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Physiology",
  "versions": []
}