How are we moving? A study of the active commuting of adults in a city in northeastern Brazil.

Abstract

The regular practice of physical activity can bring benefits such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, controlling body weight, improving lung function and strengthening muscles. Active commuting such as walking and cycling can be an important strategy for health promotion. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of physical inactivity in the form of commuting to school/course and work, among adults in the city of Teresina/PI, between 2011 and 2021. Data from the Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (VIGITEL) system for the years 2011 and 2021, in the capital of Teresina, were used. The main question of VIGITEL that was relevant for this study is the practice of physical activity while commuting. The analysis to compare the prevalence between surveys, for each independent variable, used the chi-square test, taking into account the significance level equal to 5%. The overall results of this study showed an increase of 11.2% over a decade in the prevalence of physical inactivity while commuting to work and 3.8% when commuting to school/course. In comparison with the independent variables, those assessed aged over 40 years and ? 60 years, and among those assessed of both genders, there was a significant increase in the prevalence of physical inactivity while commuting to work and to school/course. Therefore, the most important challenge for public policies, related to physical activity while commuting, is to increase this practice among those who currently do not perform it, providing means of urban planning aimed at the use of active transport such as walking and cycling.