Background

Active travel such as walking or cycling has been associated with more favorable health outcomes. However, evidence on patterns of transportation in Latin America is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to quantify and characterise socio-demographic patterns of public, private and active travel in Latin American countries.

Methods

Data from the Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health, a population-based, cross-sectional survey conducted in eight Latin American countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela (n = 9218; age range: 15–65 years). Transportation modes include public (bus, taxi, subway and train), private (car and motorcycle) and active (walking and/or cycling). Outcomes for this study include time spent in different modes of transportation. We performed overall and country-specific descriptive analyses to examine differences by sex, age, socioeconomic and education level.

Results

For the overall cohort, public transport represent 34.9% of the total travel time, whereas private, walking and cycling represent 48.2%, 10.6% and 6.3% of the total travel time. Time spent using public travel was highest in Venezuela (48.4%); Peru had the highest proportions of private travel (52.5%); Time spent walking and cycling was highest in Costa Rica (14.8% and 12.2%, respectively). The average travel time spent in public and private transport were 299.5 min/week (95% CI: 292.4307.0) and 379.6 min/week (95% CI: 368.0, 391.5) respectively; figures for walking and cycling were 186.9 min/week (95% CI: 181.8, 191.9) and 201.1 min/week (95% CI: 187.8, 216.9).

Conclusions

Public and private transport were the most common forms of travel in Latin America. Active travel (walking or cycling) represent 17% of total physical activity, therefore, promoting and providing the right infrastructure for active commuting could translate in increasing the population overall levels of physical activity in Latin America.

中文翻译：

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拉丁美洲公共，私人和主动旅行的社会人口统计学模式：ELANS研究的横断面调查结果

背景

积极的旅行（如散步或骑自行车）与更有利的健康状况相关。但是，关于拉丁美洲运输方式的证据很少。因此，本研究的目的是量化和描述拉丁美洲国家公共，私人和主动旅行的社会人口统计学模式。

方法

来自拉丁美洲营养与健康研究的数据，这是在八个拉丁美洲国家中进行的基于人口的横断面调查，包括阿根廷，巴西，智利，哥伦比亚，哥斯达黎加，厄瓜多尔，秘鲁和委内瑞拉（n = 9218；年龄范围） ：15-65岁）。交通方式包括公共（巴士，出租车，地铁和火车），私人（汽车和摩托车）和主动（步行和/或骑自行车）。这项研究的结果包括花费在不同交通方式上的时间。我们进行了总体和针对特定国家的描述性分析，以检查性别，年龄，社会经济和教育水平的差异。

结果

对于整个队列，公共交通工具占总旅行时间的34.9％，而私人，步行和骑自行车分别占总旅行时间的48.2％，10.6％和6.3％。委内瑞拉的公共旅行时间最多（48.4％）；秘鲁的私人旅行比例最高（52.5％）；步行和骑自行车的时间在哥斯达黎加最高（分别为14.8％和12.2％）。在公共和私人交通工具上花费的平均旅行时间分别为299.5分钟/周（95％CI：292.4307.0）和379.6分钟/周（95％CI：368.0，391.5）；步行和骑自行车的数据分别为每周186.9分钟（95％CI：181.8，191.9）和201.1分钟/周（95％CI：187.8，216.9）。

结论

公共和私人交通工具是拉丁美洲最常见的旅行形式。主动出行（步行或骑自行车）占整体体育活动的17％，因此，促进和提供适当的基础设施来进行通勤，可能会导致拉丁美洲人口整体体育活动的总体水平提高。