This week is Walk to School Week, so rather than hopping into the car or onto the bus, kids and parents are being encouraged to stretch their legs.
The initiative, which is being run across both Ireland and the UK, aims to spur families on to adopt a greener lifestyle.
But it’s not just the ozone layer that benefits from the walk to school.
Living Streets recently got 1,500 UK parents to walk to school with their kids. More than half of the participants said they noticed an improvement in their child’s mood and behaviour after they’d done physical activity.
Despite this however, the research found that just 21% of boys and 16% of girls get the recommended daily amount of physical exercise. More worryingly again, it found that a third of children are overweight or obese by the time they’re ready to start secondary school.
“We must prioritise ways of encouraging physical activity if we want today’s children to become healthy adults. The walk to school is a free, easy and accessible way for parents and their children to achieve this,” said Joe Irvin, Chief Executive at Living Streets.
“Sadly, just 46 per cent of primary school children walk to school compared to 70 per cent of their parents’ generation. We must reverse this decline.”
The reason for the decline is not lack of interest on the parents’ side.
A large percentage of those surveyed said they were too worried about unsafe driving around the school area to go for the walking-to-school option, while a third said overcrowding and unsafe parking was a deterrent.
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