HEADLINES

Walk to School: June 2008
Young people generally need to be about twice as active as adults to benefit  their health.  Sadly, for a number of reasons – including the fear of strangers and traffic, a lack of road skills being taught in schools and the over dependency on private vehicles for short distances on the assumption that children will be safer, healthier and happier in cars rather than out of them – means that more young people than ever are overweight and clinically obese.

Only about half of all primary school children walk to school on a regular basis. The growing dependence on the car for the school run is contributing to childhood obesity, urban congestion and pollution. International Walk to School month is October. In the UK, Walk to School Week takes place in May. Make sure your school participates; resources can be obtained through the official Walk to School website:


Can walking be cool?: May 2008
Living Streets is launching a competition to try to get more teenagers to walk to school. To get involved, visit the website:

www.HowCanWeGetLotsOfTeenagersToWalkToSchool.com

If you are aware of other initiatives that are targeting young people to encourage them to be  more active – to walk more especially, please get in touch.