A 2014 CDC study reports that during the school day, only 4 percent of elementary schools and 8 percent of middle/junior high schools provide daily physical education classes, and in 2012 only 58.9 percent of all school districts required that elementary schools provide students with regularly scheduled physical activity. Unfortunately, less active children are more likely to be overweight, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. When it comes to children's health, the costs of inadequate physical activity and poor eating habits are alarming. Inadequate physical activity and poor eating habits are major contributors to the increased rates of childhood obesity and overweight in the United States. Obese children are at least twice as likely to become obese adults. According to both a 2003 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and a 2015 CDC, this puts obese children at greater risk for premature death and chronic diseases than their healthy-weight counterparts. - National Center for Safe Routes to School. (2015) SRTS Guide – Health Risks 4
THE 6 E S OF SRTS PLANNING Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are intended to improve the health and well-being of children by enabling and encouraging them to walk and bicycle to school. The recommendations outlined in this plan are based on the “6 Es” of the National SRTS program, which include Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering, Evaluation, and Equity. An integrated approach, each one of the “6 Es” is intended to complement the others. Below is a detailed description of the “6 Es”.
EDUCATION Programs focused on education can have long-lasting effects on students that continue into adulthood. Education programs that teach students safety skills for walking and bicycling also form the basis of good driving skills they may need in the future. Programs should also target parents and other drivers to inform them how to drive more safely around pedestrians and bicyclists. A few examples of possible education strategies are bicycle rodeos that teach safe bicycling skills, classroom lessons focused on traffic safety, takehome flyers informing parents of the rules and regulations regarding student pick-up and drop-off at the school, the Minnesota Walk! Bike! Fun! Program (Figure 22), and thoughtfully-placed billboards with safety messages targeting drivers.
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National Center for Safe Routes to School. SRTS Guide – Health Risks. 2015. Available at http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/introduction/health_risks.cfm. Accessed on December 22, 2015.
HAWLEY SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PLAN
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