School run ‘does not reduce children’s activity’

DRIVING children to school does not reduce their overall physical activity level, a study has found.

The findings are at odds with the adverse publicity given to the school run and health experts’ perception of its impact on student fitness levels.

The Earlybird study, published in this week’s British Medical Journal, measured the activity cost of the school run in young children.

It found walking to and from school made no difference to a child’s total activity level.

The study, carried out in the UK, involved 154 boys and 121 girls in their first year at 53 urban primary schools.

The children wore monitors during waking hours for five consecutive schooldays and a weekend to measure physical activity. Height, weight, and body fat were also recorded.

Although children who walked to and from school recorded more activity in the process, their total weekly activity was identical to non-walkers.

Crucially, the additional activity recorded by walkers during the school journey was only 2% of the children’s total weekly activity, according to Terry Wilkin, Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, and one of the study’s authors.

“There may be other benefits from walking children to their neighbourhood school, but physical activity does not appear to be one of them,” Professor Wilkin said.

Twice as many boys and girls walked to school as were driven by car.

The average time taken to walk to school was six minutes and the average distance was 0.7km.

Another study to have considered the impact of walking to school on physical activity in children reported that boys - but not girls - who walked to school were more active after school.

The latest findings conflict with one of the aims of a pilot “walking bus” service - set up by Dublin’s Transportation Office last year - to improve student fitness levels at a time when obesity and early-onset diabetes are on the increase.