Physical Activity
Free, convenient, enjoyable and does not require special equipment or training: Walking is a great way for adults and kids to be active. Lack of physical activity is a major cause of chronic illness and death for our country’s adults. Being overweight can cause health problems like diabetes during childhood and research shows that physically inactive kids are more likely to grow up to be physically inactive adults – and are therefore at high risk for obesity and related illnesses.
There are plenty of great reasons to walk to school – less traffic, safer streets, cleaner air – but one of the best is that children and parents will be healthier. With obesity rates skyrocketing and only one-quarter of American's able to get the Surgeon General's recommended daily dose of exercise (just 30 minutes), it's an ideal time to encourage people to walk to school for their own health and well-being.
Kids need to move
Obesity rates among children have more than doubled in the past twenty years, according to the National Longitudinal Study of Youth. Even worse, rates of obesity are much higher among minority children than among white youth, suggesting a grave social inequity in the availability of safe, healthy recreational opportunities.
Add walking to the mix. Physical activity recommendations for children suggest that they need a variety of activities each day-some intense, some less-so, some informal, some structured. Walking or cycling to and from school is an ideal way to get some of that activity at no extra cost to the child or family.
Walking to school is a missed opportunity. Roughly 10% of children nationwide walk to school regularly. Even among those kids living within a mile of their school, only 25% are regular walkers.
Parents who walk or bike to school with their kids get to be sociable. Nearly nine out ten parents who walk their children to school see it as an ideal way to meet new people, according to a survey in the UK. Many said that the school gate was a better place to meet new people than pubs, clubs, evening classes or the supermarket.
More on why to care:
- The Importance of Physical Activity
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe the importance of physical activity
- Physical Activity and Health Fact Sheet
- The President’s Council on Physical Fitness describes health benefits of activity as well as the impact of obesity on health and medical care costs.
- U.S. Physical Activity Statistics
- Physical activity statistics by state and metropolitan area
How much activity?
- Are there special recommendations for young people?
- How much activity should kids get? Elementary school-aged children should accumulate at least 30 to 60 minutes of age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate physical activity from a variety of activities on all, or most, days of the week.
- How active do adults need to be to gain some benefits?
- What about adults? To promote their general health, adults are encouraged to meet or exceed recommendations of at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity "most" days of the week.
What you can do…
Promote bicycling and walking to school through Walk to School events and Safe Routes to School programs which enable children to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines.
- State-based Physical Activity Program Directory
- Partner with others that care about kids' health. Find people in your state that are encouraging physical activity and fighting obesity among children.
- CDC kids' sites
- Give kids access to physical activity information that's actually relevant
and presented for them. Go to the CDC's sites:
http://www.verbnow.com
http://www.bam.gov - Health Resources and Information Links
For a comprehensive listing of links and organizations related to physical activity, nutrition, and health, go to the CDC's resource list.
