If you used physically active modes of commuting to school, your children are likely to do the same. A study by the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, reveals an intergenerational link between parents’ and their children’s school commuting habits. The researcher emphasizes that active commuting to school is a simple and practical way to incorporate more physical activity into daily life.

For example, walking or cycling to school can be an important source of daily physical activity for children and adolescents. Parents play an important role in shaping their children’s physical activity behaviours, including commuting to school. Lifestyle habits, such as physical activity, are also often passed down from one generation to the next.

This study examined the connection between parents’ active commuting to school in their youth in the 1980s and their children’s school commuting habits in 2018.

“We found a positive, intergenerational connection between parents’ and their children’s active commuting to school”, says researcher Tuuli Suominen from the University of Jyväskylä.

The study accounted for several background factors that influence school commuting, including distance to school, school grade, living area, gender, parental education and family income.

Although the observed intergenerational connection was relatively modest, it was still significant.

“Parents’ own experiences and attitudes towards walking or cycling to school influence how they support and enable their children’s physically active commuting”, Suominen explains.

“If they are familiar with walking or cycling to school and view it positively, they are more likely to pass that habit to the next generation.”

Parental influence is strongest in primary school years

The intergenerational continuity of physically active commuting is particularly evident during the primary school years. Previous research has also shown that parental influence on children’s physical activity and commuting behaviour is strongest when children are younger. As children grow older and gain independence, parental influence diminishes, and peer influence becomes more prominent.

“Walking or cycling to school is an easy and practical way to increase daily physical activity. In view of the increasing physical inactivity among youth, it is essential to promote active modes of commuting through multiple strategies”, says Suominen.

Supporting and enabling physically active commuting can benefit not only the current, but also future generations, contributing to healthier lifestyles and more sustainable commuting practices.

The study is part of the larger longitudinal Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS), which began in 1980 and was expanded to a three-generation study in the most recent follow-up in 2018. This study drew on survey data collected from two generations on school commuting and its determinants between the ages of 7 and 20. The data consisted of 660 parent-child pairs. School commuting of the original subjects was studied between 1980–86 and their offsprings in 2018, with consideration for both generations’ background factors such as distance to school, school grade, gender, living area, parental education and family income level.

The study was funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation.