Active commuting to school (ACS) seems to be one of the means to increase physical activity (PA) levels in youth, but it is unclear if ACS reduces the prevalence of obesity, protecting and improving their health. Most of the previous research has been conducted on children or youth (i.e., children with adolescents together), and there is a paucity of research in adolescents only. The purpose of this review was to assess the association between ACS with overweight/obesity parameters in adolescents aged 11 to 19 years. We used PubMed, WOS and SPORTDiscus as electronics databases. All steps of the process followed the recommendations of the PRISMA flow-diagram. Fifteen articles (68.18%) found a consistent association between ACS and body composition and seven studies (31.82%) showed no differences in body composition between active and passive commuters to school. Fourteen studies observed that active commuters to school had a more favorable body composition and one study reported that ACS was associated with unfavourable body composition. ACS could be the steppingstone to improve PA promotion in adolescence but whether ACS is associated with improved body composition and prevention of obesity requires further research.

The aim of this study was to study different ‘healthy profiles’ through the impact of multiple lifestyle behaviours (sleep patterns, screen time and quality diet) on active commuting to school (ACS) in adolescents. Sixteen secondary schools from four Spanish cities were randomly selected. All participants filled in an “Ad-Hoc” questionnaire to measure their mode of commuting and distance from home to school and their lifestyle behaviours. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to analyse the main predictor variables of ACS. The final sample was 301 adolescents (50.2% girls; mean age ± SD: 14.9 ± 0.48 years). The percentage of ACS was 64.5%. Multiple logistic regressions showed: boys were more active commuters than girls [OR = 2.28 (CI 95%: 1.12–4.64); p = 0.02]; adolescents who lived farther had lower probability to ACS [OR = 0.74 (CI 95%: 0.69–0.80); p < 0.001]; adolescents who met sleep duration recommendations were more likely to ACS [OR = 3.05 (CI 95%: 1.07–8.69); p = 0.04], while with each hour of sleep, the odds of ACS was reduced [OR = 0.51 (CI 95%: 0.30–0.89); p = 0.02]; higher odds were shown to ACS in adolescents who have more adherence to MD [OR = 1.16(CI 95%: 1.00–1.33); p = 0.05]; and habitual breakfast consumption was inversely associated with ACS [OR = 0.41 (CI: 95%: 0.18–0.96); p = 0.04]. ACS was associated with being a boy, living at a shorter distance to school, a daily sleep time ≥ 8 h and presented a higher adherence to MD.

Background/Objectives: Skipping breakfast is increasingly common among adolescents and has been associated with adverse health and academic outcomes. The average prevalence of breakfast skipping among adolescents is around 16%, although worldwide, it varies greatly across studies, ranging from 1.3 to 74.7%. This study aimed to assess the frequency of daily breakfast consumption and explore the factors associated with its omission in a stratified sample of Spanish adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 547 third-year secondary school students (aged 14–15) from both urban and rural areas in Castilla-La Mancha. Self-reported questionnaires were used to gather sociodemographic, psychosocial, and lifestyle data, including adherence to the Mediterranean diet (via the Kidmed questionnaire) and breakfast habits during school days. Descriptive, bivariate (Chi-square), and multivariate (binary logistic regression) analyses were conducted separately for boys and girls. Results: Findings showed a high prevalence of breakfast skipping one or more days (33.46%), with a significantly higher rate among girls (43.27%) than among boys (24.42%). Also, girls were more likely than boys to skip breakfast every day (14.18% vs. 6.87%, p < 0.001). In both groups, low adherence to the Mediterranean diet was strongly associated with skipping breakfast, along with higher screen time, shorter sleep duration, and being overweight/obese. Among girls, low olive oil consumption (OR 0.145 (CI 0.03–0.67) p 0.014) and poor Mediterranean diet adherence (OR 0.140 (CI 0.06–0.34) p < 0.001) were significant predictors. For boys, being overweight/obese (OR 2.185 (CI 1.06–4.52) p 0.035), low Mediterranean diet adherence (OR 0.136 (CI 0.06–0.32) p < 0.001), and not eating industrial pastries were associated factors (OR 0.413 (CI 0.20–0.88) p 0.022). Predictive models demonstrated good discriminatory power (AUC = 0.807 for girls; 0.792 for boys). Conclusions: Skipping breakfast is prevalent among adolescents, particularly girls, and is linked to poor dietary patterns and excess weight. These findings underscore the need for gender-specific nutritional interventions to promote regular breakfast consumption and improve dietary habits in adolescents.

El Proyecto PACOyPACA tiene como objetivo explorar las relaciones de los desplazamientos activos al centro educativo (DACE) en distintos entornos (urbano, semi-urbano y rural) con características del entorno físico, factores psicosociales y estilos de vida (patrones de sueño, actividad física, tiempo de pantalla y aspectos nutricionales) en la población adolescente de Castilla-La Mancha en España. El Proyecto PACOyPACA es un estudio transversal. Su muestra se compone de estudiantes en 3º curso de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) (14-15 años) de las cinco provincias de Castilla-La Mancha (Toledo, Ciudad Real, Albacete, Cuenca y Guadalajara), y sus padres. Para garantizar su representatividad, se realizó un muestreo estratificado de acuerdo con el tamaño poblacional de las localidades de los centros, clasificándolos como urbanos, semi-urbanos y rurales. Se crearon cuestionarios ad hoc para ambos, adolescentes y padres/madres/tutores legales, para recoger información sobre DACE, entorno físico, factores psicosociales y estilos de vida. Estos se basan en cuestionarios previamente validados. El Proyecto PACOyPACA en Castilla-La Mancha será útil para concienciar sobre el estado de DACE actual en la adolescencia y los factores asociados a los DACE. Este conocimiento será de ayuda para el diseño y creación de estrategias de fomento de los DACE en distintos entornos de Castilla-La Mancha. Asimismo, la evidencia recogida podrá servir para desarrollar la implementación de estrategias de promoción de los desplazamientos activos en el ámbito comunitario atendiendo a la zona urbana, semi-urbana y rural de manera más eficaz.

Introduction: New guidelines from Canada indicate that the integration of all movement behaviours [physical activity (PA), screen time (ST) and sleep time (SLT)] is important for health across the day. Active commuting to school (ACS) provides an opportunity to increase PA levels daily while replacing sedentary time passively commuting. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of ACS, and if meeting the different guidelines included in the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines is associated with ACS in adolescents.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate adherence to ACS in relation to environment, psychosocial variables, and healthy lifestyle factors in Spanish adolescents. The final sample included 686 adolescents (mean age = 14.81 ± 0.52 years, 50.8% girls) from seven Spanish urban areas stratified by SES and walkability. Adolescents filled in an “ad hoc” questionnaire on the mode of commuting to school and lifestyle behaviors based on the PACO&PACA questionnaire. Logistic regression models were fit to evaluate if meeting the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines was associated with ACS. The level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.Results: A total of 55.8% adolescents commuted actively from home to school. Data showed active commuters (AC) met 24-Hour Movement Guidelines more than passive commuters (PC). Evidence from the binary logistic regression indicated that those who met two Guidelines (aOR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.01–2.59; p = 0.047) had higher odds of ACS than those who did not meet any 24-Hour Movement Guidelines. In particular, girls who met two or all 24-Hour Movement Guidelines had higher odds of ACS than those who met none (OR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.10–3.87; OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.00–5.27, respectively).Conclusions: In conclusion, our study suggests that meeting more 24-Hour Movement Guidelines is associated with ACS in adolescents. In addition, promoting ACS as a strategy to meet the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines is recommended particularly for adolescent girls.