Walk-to-School-Day is October 8 this year. Nearly 1,500 schools are participating from 48 states to encourage students to get to school without a car. Walk-to-School Day in the United States is part of international Walk-to-School Day, which involves more than three million walkers around the world.
Why promote walking and biking to school?
Engaging in active transportation at a young age is an important step for children to develop into lifelong walkers and bikers. In 1969, 50 percent of American children walked to school, but by 2004 that number had dropped to 14 percent. Several problems have accompanied this decrease. Parents dropping their kids off at school account for 20 to 30 percent of all morning rush hour traffic. Further, 50 percent of all American children (under age 19) were overweight or obese in 2003, compared to 15 percent in the early 1970s. Walking or biking to and from school is an easy way for children to build activity into their lives and meet the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five days a week.
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