{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T01:22:47Z","timestamp":1777425767521,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,17]],"date-time":"2019-05-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1558051200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Active commuting to and from university (ACU) could be a strategy to increase physical activity levels (PA) and promote health in young university students. We aimed to a) examine the patterns of commuting to university in Chilean students; b) the association between the mode of commuting to and from university and socio-demographic factors and PA-levels. Materials and Methods: A total of 496 university students (21.6 \u00b1 2.4 years old) from two universities from Valpara\u00edso (central coast of Chile) participated in this study. Personal data, home address, socio-economic status, PA, and the usual mode of commuting to and from the university were self-reported by a questionnaire. The commute distances were objectively measured using Google-Maps-software. Associations were examined using binary logistic regressions. Results: The main mode of commuting was by bus (to university: 55.2% vs. from university: 59.3%; p &lt; 0.001). The least used mode was cycling (1.4% to and from university). Students living &gt;5-km from university were less active commuters than those living in closer distances: (2\u20135 km, odds ratio (OR): 4.424, 95% and 95% confidence intervals (CI): 2.443\u20138.011, p &lt; 0.001; 2 km, OR: 143.052, 95% CI: 55.154\u2013371.030, p &lt; 0.001). Students with low PA-levels were less active commuters than those with medium (OR: 1.446; 95% CI: 0.864\u20132.421; p = 0.160) or higher levels (OR: 1.880; 95% CI: 1.880\u20131.094; p = 0.022). Students who lived between 2 and 5 km, presented a significant association to be active commuters when they showed medium PA-levels (OR: 5.244, 95% CI: 1.358\u201320.246; p = 0.016). Conclusions: Chilean university students from Valpara\u00edso are mainly passive commuters using public transport as the main mode of commuting to and from university; longer distances from home to the university are associated with low PA levels. ACU in distances between 2\u20135 km (mainly walking) could contribute to having medium PA-levels in Chilean university students. Thus, promoting the ACU walking to and from the university in such distances could be an effective strategy to increase the overall PA levels in Chilean university students.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina55050152","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,17]],"date-time":"2019-05-17T11:06:46Z","timestamp":1558091206000},"page":"152","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Active Commuting to University and its Association with Sociodemographic Factors and Physical Activity Levels in Chilean Students"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"55","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7435-7702","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yaira","family":"Barranco-Ruiz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"PROmoting FITness and Health through Physical Activity (PROFITH) Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Camino de Alfacar, 21, 18071 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9070-5693","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carolina","family":"Cruz Le\u00f3n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRyS Research Group, School of Physical Education, Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Valpara\u00edso, Av. El Bosque 1290, Vi\u00f1a del Mar 2530388, Chile"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2815-2060","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emilio","family":"Villa-Gonz\u00e1lez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"PROmoting FITness and Health through Physical Activity (PROFITH) Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Camino de Alfacar, 21, 18071 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0215-9280","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ximena","family":"Palma Leal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Educaci\u00f3n F\u00edsica, Deportes y Recreaci\u00f3n DEFIDER, Universidad T\u00e9cnica Federico Santa Mar\u00eda, Valpara\u00edso 2390123, Chile"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Palma","family":"Chill\u00f3n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"PROmoting FITness and Health through Physical Activity (PROFITH) Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Camino de Alfacar, 21, 18071 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4999-4857","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fernando","family":"Rodr\u00edguez-Rodr\u00edguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRyS Research Group, School of Physical Education, Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Valpara\u00edso, Av. El Bosque 1290, Vi\u00f1a del Mar 2530388, Chile"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) (2019, January 10). Physiscal Activity Fact Sheet 385. Available online: http:\/\/www.who.int\/mediacentre\/factsheets\/fs385\/en\/."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Blanco, A., Jacoby, E., Monteiro, M., Caixeta, R., Smith, B., Grajeda, R., and Santos-Burgoa, C. (2016). Risk factors in the Americas: The sources of the burden. Economic Dimensions of Noncommunicable Diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean. Disease Control Priorities, Pan American Health Organization and the University of Washington. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Salud, M.D. (2012). 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