Walking To School Enhances Cognitive Skills

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familywalkFrom Your Health Journal…..”A great article I wanted to share and plug today from the Green Bay Gazette written by Patti Zarling entitled Walking to school said to improve kids’ studies. In a day and age where many experts are worried that this generation of children could be the first to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, it is refreshing to read an article that not only promotes physical activity, but improving cognitive skills. So many children have become sedentary in the technological era – where they play on the laptops or video games rather than play outside. The definition of play has truly changed over the last decade. So many children take a bus to school, whereas many years ago, so many children walked or biked to school. Times have certainly changed. But, effort needs to be made to make change in the daily routine of children, and bring back some of those ‘lost arts’ ‘ which include physical activity. Walking to school on a regular basis is one such change that can make a difference in a child’s life. Not only will it improve them physically, but also cognitively. Even if you live far from the school, possibly go for a morning walk with your child before the bus arrives. Please visit the Green Bay Gazette web site (link provided below) to read the complete article. It was well written and informative.”

From the article…..

Walking and biking to school can not only help prevent childhood obesity, but that physical activity also can help students do well in class, a local health advocate says.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says kids should get at least 60 minutes of exercise a day. But surveys show 30 percent of high school-aged students in Wisconsin don’t get that, according to Melinda Morella, community engagement specialist for Live54218, a nonprofit that promotes healthy lifestyles in Brown County.

She noted that since the 1960s the number of kids who walk to school has decreased by about 50 percent.

“At the same time we’re seeing obesity rates go up,” Morella said. “This is something to be concerned about.”

According to the CDC, obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents nationwide in the past 30 years.

The percentage of 6- to 11-year-olds in the U.S. who were obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 18 percent in 2010, the most recent figures available. The percentage of adolescents who were obese increased from 5 percent to 18 percent in the same time period.

The federal agency found that more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese in 2010.

Exercise can help combat that and young people who walk or bike to school automatically build physical activity into their day, Morella said.

To read the complete article…..Click here