Health Risks

common barriers that prevented them from allowing their children to walk to school. Parents of children aged 5 to 18 years cited one or more of the following six barrier reasons:

Barrier Reason Percentage of parents identifying with the barrier  Distance to school: 61.5  Traffic-related danger: 30.4  Weather: 18.6

 Crime danger: 11.7  Opposing school policy: 6.0  Other reasons (not identified): 15.0

While this CDC report is from 2005, a report from the National Center for Safe Routes to School in 2010 found that these barriers remain the same.

- National Center for Safe Routes to School. (2015) SRTS Guide – The Decline in Walking and Bicycling3

H E A L T H R I S K S

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that children do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity each day and that the bulk of this physical activity comes through aerobic exercise, such as walking and bicycling. For children and adolescents, regular physical activity helps build and maintain healthy bones and muscles, reduces the risk of developing obesity and chronic diseases, reduces feelings of depression and anxiety and promotes psychological well-being.

Despite these benefits, many children are not getting adequate physical activity. In the 2014 United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth, the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance reports that only 24.8 percent of youth ages 12-15 years obtain 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. 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% 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.

3 National Center for Safe Routes to School. SRTS Guide – The Decline in Walking and Bicycling. 2015. Available at http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/introduction/the_decline_of_walking_and_bicycling.cfm. Accessed on December 22, 2015.

Chapter 2: About Safe Routes to School (SRTS) | P a g e 41