Head teacher sees Daily Mile idea help thousands

A head teacher has seen her Daily Mile idea boost kids’ health in 3,500 schools worldwide.

Elaine Wyllie decided to get pupils walking or running a mile 15 minutes a day at St Ninian’s Primary, Stirling, in 2012. Since then it’s spread to 31 countries.

She hopes, scientific research coming out soon will underline the fitness benefits for children and prompt more schools to start a mile of t heir own. Elaine, 62 and now retired, anticipates that research by the universities of Edinburgh and Stirling will provide concrete evidence that the exercise helps tackle the obesity epidemic.

She said: “I hope and believe this major new report will give us the scientific proof that The Daily Mile does what it says on the tin. That was what we saw at St Ninian’s and what parents and schools all over the country are telling us is true: the children are fitter, a healthier weight, cheerier and more focused in class. However much progress we have made, there are still those who need the evidence and I hope this report will do that.”