LIFE CYCLE
“Only one in five children aged 5 to 17 gets the recommended amount of physical activity every day.”
WALKING, riding and scooting to and from school can kickstart a lifetime of healthy habits for children, a study has found.
The Deakin University study, in partnership with VicHealth, discovered children’s active and independent transport was a predictor for future physical activity and health benefits.
VicHealth chief executive Jerril Rechter said the findings came at an important time, with children’s health habits in decline.
“The proportion of children walking to school has declined dramatically in recent decades and obesity levels are on the rise,” Ms Rechter said.
“Only one in five children aged 5 to 17 gets the recommended amount of physical activity every day so it’s important we try to turn those statistics around.
“Walking, scooting and riding to and from school helps children get the physical activity they need each day to be healthy and can kickstart healthy habits to set them up for a lifetime of good health.”
The study by Deakin’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, printed in the latest Health and Place journal, looked at changes over two years in about 200 children with an average age of 12.
IPAN researcher Jenny Veitch saidaid the study could be used to help improve physical ysical activity trends in children and adolescents.
“When we started our research, 35 per cent of the children used some form of independent travel on the school journey, but two years later, that number had dropped to 30 per cent,” Dr Veitch said.
“We also found that road safety and social norms were associated with both active transport and independent travel by children to local destinations and these factors provide us with potential areas to target in the future.
“Our study is among the first to examine predictors of active transport and independent mobility to school and other local destinations.”