Active travel to school wakes up the mind and body.

Benefits

Active travel to school wakes up the mind and body. It also helps to reduce congestion and pollution and improve safety around the school gates.

• Active travel can increase the concentration of children by up to four hours
• There is a positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance
• Physical activity encourages healthy growth and development and helps to maintain a healthy weight, improving muscular strength, endurance and flexibility
• Travelling actively builds exercise into the daily routine. It is recommended that 5 – 18 year olds get 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise every day
• 15 minutes exercise can significantly improve a child’s mood
• Exercise can help to reduce anxiety and stress

Facts and Figures

Children who walk, cycle or scoot to school from an early age have more road sense and an improved ability to travel independently and safely.

• 1 in 5 cars on the road during peak morning times are involved in the school run
• Short car journeys, like travelling to school, create the most pollution
• Most children live 1.5 miles or less from their primary school
• In slow moving traffic the pollution levels inside a car are 2-3 times more than outside
• On average every time a child is driven to primary school and back their car releases 84 balloons worth of CO2 into the atmosphere
• 90% of children own a bike. 48% of children want to cycle to school. Only 2% of children actually do
• A 10 minute walk will take 3 minutes by bike
• A 30 minute quick walk uses about 150 calories – the same as 3 apples, a slice of pizza or a cream egg