Last week, Porto hosted the RIÍDASS 2026 Congress , an international meeting point for researchers working on inequalities in health, sports, and physical activity.
Within this framework, our colleague Eugéni 𝗩idal 𝗧ortosa , Postdoctoral Researcher at GEMOTT , presented his work on active commuting to school.
👉 In his presentation, “Active commuting to school among Spanish adolescents: social differences & neighborhood environment”, he showed that adolescents from low-SES and migrant families are often more likely to walk or cycle to school. However, when neighborhood factors — especially distance to school — are considered, these differences disappear.
These findings suggest that inequalities in active commuting are shaped less by who adolescents are and more by where they live, underlining the importance of school siting and neighborhood planning in fostering equitable opportunities for physical activity.
