Schoolchildren in the UK are some of the unhealthiest and unhappiest in the world. One in three leave primary school obese or overweight and just 21% of boys and 16% of girls get the recommended daily amount of physical activity.
At Living Streets, we know that getting children to walk to school is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to fit more activity into their day. We work with thousands of schools in the UK through our Walk to School campaign which helps to increase the amount of children walking to school. This May, over 400,000 children took part in Walk to School Week – our five day walking challenge. The challenge is a great way to celebrate walking and can be a stepping stone to year-round activity.
As well as mental and physical health benefits, walking to school has been shown to improve children’s concentration, help them feel more alert and achieve better grades than those who are driven. In Living Streets research, released in time for Walk to School Week this year, over half of parents surveyed said that they see an improvement in their child’s happiness after the walk to school; a third said it helps them to feel less stressed; and over two thirds said it was a great time to spend quality time with their children. Of the parents surveyed whose children don’t walk to school, over half said they would like them to; however, congestion and unsafe driving outside the school gates overwhelmingly deter them.
Something needs to change so that more children and parents feel safe walking to school. This is one sure way of increasing the amount of exercise youngsters are getting and is vitally important if we want to improve their health, and cut congestion and pollution. Ways to make areas safer outside the school gates include 20mph speed limits, better and frequent crossings and school road closures at peak times.
The AA supported Living Streets’ Walk to School Week with Edmund King, AA President, saying “encouraging children to walk more to school is a great way of instilling good, healthy habits and will help to ease congestion on roads at peak times. Safe walking routes to school and fewer traffic jams are a ‘win-win’ for all road users.”
At Living Streets we want every child that can walk to school, to walk to school. We’ll continue to work to improve the school run and encourage more families to swap four wheels for two feet for the school run so that we have safe, healthy and happy children and less congested roads.
Jenny Wiles, Regional Director (North), Living Streets
