Longitudinal associations between bicycling and having dependent children, in middle-aged men and women

Stephanie Sersli; Gavin Turrell; Nicola W Burton; Wendy J Brown; Kristiann C Heesch

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101479

Longitudinal associations between bicycling and having dependent children, in middle-aged men and women

Prev Med Rep. 2021 Jul 8:23:101479. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101479. eCollection 2021 Sep.

Authors

Stephanie Sersli^{1

2

3}, Gavin Turrell^{4

5}, Nicola W Burton⁶, Wendy J Brown⁷, Kristiann C Heesch³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
² Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, 7/F, 2635 Laurel Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9, Canada.
³ School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Research and Action in Public Health, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia.
⁵ Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁶ School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia.
⁷ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Abstract

Bicycling has multiple health benefits. Child-rearing may influence bicycling, but little is known about the impact of this between men's and women's bicycling, or of number and ages of children on bicycling. This study examined the longitudinal associations between having dependent children and bicycling for transportation and recreation over 4 years among mid-aged men and women. Data were from the HABITAT study (Australia). We analysed data from three survey waves (2007, 2009, 2011) using multilevel logistic regression stratified by gender (n = 7758). Findings indicate that having dependent children was associated with bicycling for transportation and recreation in contrasting ways for men and women. The odds of bicycling were higher in men with ≥2 children aged under 18y than men without children (transportation: OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.26, 2.98; recreation: OR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.67, 3.37). Over time, the odds of recreational bicycling were lower in women with ≥2 children than women without children (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.73, 0.93). However, for both men and women, the odds of recreational bicycling were higher in those with children aged 6-12y than those with younger or older children (men: OR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.39, 2.49; women: OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.31, 2.46). Interventions to promote bicycling must therefore consider gendered differences in bicycling for travel and active leisure, and family circumstances. An opportunity to promote bicycling might be to target parents with children aged 6-12y.

Keywords: Active leisure; Active transport; Bicycling; Gender; Longitudinal studies.