John Boyle
Fri, 16 Aug 2002 06:33:21 -0700
Thu Aug 15, 5:21 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - As many as 20 million US schoolchildren may be missing out on the chance to bike or walk to school--and add much needed exercise into their daily routines--due to traffic dangers, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
Parents and communities should get together to map out safe biking and walking routes for schoolchildren, the CDC recommends. According to the CDC, 43% of US high school students spend at least 2 hours a day watching television. Rates of overweight and obesity among youngsters have tripled since the late 1970s and now run as high as 14% among US children. Rates are even higher in African-American and Hispanic communities. With childhood obesity skyrocketing, health experts are searching for ways to get kids moving. Walking or biking to school is one way children can increase their activity levels, but just one in seven trips to school are made under a child's own power. The CDC identifies barriers US kids face to walking or biking to school in a study published in this Friday's issue of the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The CDC surveyed 749 US households with children between the ages of 5 and 18. Participants reported how their child got to school and what, if any, barriers existed to their child's traveling on foot or by bike. Approximately one third of schoolchildren ride a bus and half are driven to school in private vehicles, the investigators found. While most students live roughly 2 miles from school, a relatively long distance to walk or bike, the agency notes that "many children do not walk or bike to school even when distances are short." Only 31% of trips to school are made on foot and only 2% by bike among children living 2 miles or less from their school, the researchers report. The survey also found that about 40% of kids don't walk or bike to school because of traffic dangers perceived by their parents. This translates to roughly 20 million US children missing the chance to keep off excess pounds. While dangerous motor vehicle traffic is a real obstacle to children walking or biking to school, the CDC argues that public health and community-based efforts could address this concern. Parents and communities could work together to identify safe walking and biking routes to school, the agency recommends. "Many US communities are facilitating walking and biking to school by addressing traffic safety concerns, mapping safe routes to local schools, building new schools in residential neighborhoods, and involving parents in programs such as Walking School Bus, Bike Trains and Walk to School Day," the CDC researchers note. One such program in Marin County, California, has increased student walking and biking by 57%, the CDC points out. SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2002;51:701-703. Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com |