The permission for walking to school: An analysis from a gender perspective

Abstract

Objective: The aims were to describe the permission patterns to walk to school alone, accompanied by other children or adults, according to the sex of the parents and the offspring, and to analyse the association between the sex of the parents and the sex of the offspring with the permission of them to walk to school alone, accompanied by an equal, or accompanied by an adult. Methods: A total of 149 families from Spain participated in this study. The families completed a questionnaire about sociodemographic data and age of permission to walk to school. Chi-square analyses were used to describe permission patterns, and binary logistic regression models were fitted to analyse the relationship between sex and permission to walk to school. Results: The results showed no association between the permission to walk alone, accompanied by equals or adults with to the sex of the parent or of the children (all, p>0.05), except to walk to school accompanied by an adult in mothers of secondary school students (Odds Ratio: 4.9, p<0.05). Conclusion: To conclude, permission patterns have been described, and no association has been observed between sex and permission patterns to walk to school.