Age; Bicycle use; Cycling; Learning; Profiles; Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality; Transportation; Pollution; Safety Research; Health Policy; Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Abstract :
[en] Introduction: Cycling plays a key role in the promotion of individual, community, and planetary health. However, no previous study has explored the interplay between the process of learning to cycle and cycling habits, adopting a person-centered approach. To understand which variables promote the learning process (i.e., acquisition) and lifelong bicycle use on a daily and recreational basis (i.e., engagement), the aim of this study was to identify different clusters of individuals with similar characteristics related to their cycling acquisition and engagement. Methods: A cross-country pooled sample of 8542 individuals aged 28.9 ± 14.4 years (58.5 % female) was assessed via online questionnaire. A Self-Organizing Map (SOM) was used to classify and visualize the values of individuals in the variables tested. Results: A K-means cluster analysis resulted in seven profiles. Participants in profiles characterized by a relatively old age to learn to cycle (i.e., 7-8 years-old; n > 1500 mainly from Mexico and the United Kingdom) typically learned to cycle on a conventional bicycle, were taught by their father, mother, or both, and mainly cycle for leisure. Participants in profiles characterized by a relatively young age to learn to cycle (i.e., 5 years old; n > 1500 mainly from Belgium and Finland) typically learned to cycle by using a wide variety of bicycles (i.e., balance-bicycle, two-training wheels, one-training wheel and conventional bicycle) and without guidance from a specific significant other. Conclusion: The identified clusters highlight the diversity of cycling engagement across different demographics and geographic locations. The results provide valuable insights to plan and guide targeted policies and interventions to promote cycling as a mode of transportation and recreational activity.
Research Center/Unit :
RUCHE - Research Unit for a life-Course perspective on Health & Education - ULiège
Disciplines :
Education & instruction
Author, co-author :
Estevan, Isaac ; AFIPS Research Group. Department of Teaching of Physical Education, Arts and Music. University of Valencia, Spain ; RIIDASS Network, Spain
De Meester, An; Department of Educational and Developmental Science, University of South Carolina, United States
Veldman, Sanne L.C. ; Mulier Institute, Utrecht, Netherlands
Mercê, Cristiana ; SPRINT- Sport Physical Activity and Health Research and Innovation Center, Sport Sciences School of Rio Maior, Santarem Polytechnic University, Portugal
Branco, Marco ; SPRINT- Sport Physical Activity and Health Research and Innovation Center, Sport Sciences School of Rio Maior, Santarem Polytechnic University, Portugal
Lopes, Frederico; Laboratory of Motor Behavior, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Catela, David ; CIEQV, Life Quality Research Centre, Sport Sciences School of Rio Maior, Santarém Polytechnic University, Rio Maior, Portugal
Hasanen, Elina ; Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland ; Active Life Lab, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Mikkeli, Finland ; Department of Built Environment, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
Laukkanen, Arto; Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Tortella, Patrizia; Department of Human and Social Science, Free University “Kore” of Enna, Italy
Sá, Cristina; Escola Superior de Saúde do Alcoitão, Portugal
Jidovtseff, Boris ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des Sciences de l'activité physique et de la réadaptation > Déterminants de la performance et aspects généraux de l'entraînement - Aspects spécifiques de l'entraînement y compris de haut niveau
Fujikawa, Ricardo; Southern California University of Health Science, United States
García-Massó, Xavier; AFIPS Research Group. Department of Teaching of Physical Education, Arts and Music. University of Valencia, Spain
Cordovil, Rita; Laboratory of Motor Behavior, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal ; CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Generalitat Valenciana MICINN - Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion
Funding text :
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. IE and XG-M were supported by the Spanish National Research Agency, Ministry of Science and Innovation [ PID2020-115075RA-I00 by the MCIN / AEI /10.13039/501100011033] and 2) la Conselleria de Educaci\u00F3n, Universidades y Ocupaci\u00F3n de la Generalitat Valenciana ( AICO-2022-185 ). RC, CM, and MB were partly supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology , under Grant UIDB/00447/2020 to CIPER\u2014Centro Interdisciplinar para o Estudo da Performance Humana (unit 447); DC was partly supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under Grant UID/CED/04748/2020 to CIEQV - Centro de Investiga\u00E7\u00E3o em Qualidade de Vida.The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. IE and XG-M were supported by the Spanish National Research Agency, Ministry of Science and Innovation [PID2020-115075RA-I00 by the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033] and 2) la Conselleria de Educaci\u00F3n, Universidades y Ocupaci\u00F3n de la Generalitat Valenciana (AICO-2022-185). RC, CM, and MB were partly supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under Grant UIDB/00447/2020 to CIPER\u2014Centro Interdisciplinar para o Estudo da Performance Humana (unit 447); DC was partly supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under Grant UID/CED/04748/2020 to CIEQV - Centro de Investiga\u00E7\u00E3o em Qualidade de Vida.The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Isaac Estevan reports financial support was provided by Spanish National Research Agency, Ministry of Science and Innovation. Isaac Estevan reports financial support was provided by Conselleria de Educaci\u00F3n, Universidades y Ocupaci\u00F3n de la Genleralitat Valenciana. Rita Cordovil reports financial support was provided by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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