The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and American Heart Association (AHA) all agree—walking your kid to school will help you raise a healthier child.
"These children [who walked to school] had smaller increases in perceived stress, heart rate, and systolic blood pressure, compared to children who didn’t do the walk to school." (HHS)
- The CDC has created a “Kids Walk-to-School” program. It aims to encourage children to increase physical activity by walking to and from school, which may reduce their health risks:
- Prevalence of overweight children has tripled.
- Sharp increase in cases of type 2 diabetes in children.
- Pedestrian injuries are the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children.
- Asthma rates have increased 160% in the past 15 years in children.
- Let’s Move recommends kids to be active 60 minutes every day. But it doesn’t have to happen at once. The best way to start is to “facilitate a safe walk to and from school once a week.” (Let’s Move)
- The AHA offers tips for raising heart-healthy, active children. Walking your child to school and other recommended activity habits are located on their website.
As advocates of wellness, we’re invested in providing your family with ways to start living a healthier life. You can find wellness challenges and resources on our wellness website.