This Wednesday, October 4, is International Walk-to-School Day, a perfect opportunity to make positive lifestyle choices for ourselves, our children and our world.

In the United States, where the obesity crisis makes daily headlines, our youth bear an excessive burden of this trend. Indeed, the Trust for America’s Health classifies nearly one in five children ages 6-11 as overweight (1). In 1969, approximately half of all children walked or biked to school (2), but by 2001 that number had dropped to 15 percent (3). Walk-to-School Day gives all of us an easy reminder to include exercise in everyday tasks.

The U.S. transportation sector emits 27 percent of national greenhouse gases, with private automobiles producing 62 percent of that ouput (4). By trading automobile trips for walking or biking, we reduce our impact on global climate change.

So, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy encourages you to get involved in your local walk-to-school movement and help promote walking as a healthy, environmentally sound transportation option.

Please visit this Walk-to-School map to find an event in your community. In Richmond, this event is sponsored by Richmond College Prep Charter School. For information, contact Linda Franke, 510 465-1212. Summer walks to community garden, library, with fall Walk to School program, partners with National Park, Richmond Foundation, CCDPH, Friends of Richmond Greenway, and others. Children's art, poetry and stories. Walking school buses. Including parents in walking events.

“This is a great opportunity for students and parents to take back their neighborhood and gain an awareness of safe walking routes to school, as well as places where safety improvements are needed,” said Nancy Baer, Manager of Contra Costa Health Services’ (CCHS) Injury Prevention and Physical Activity Promotion Projects. “We’re hoping that families find that walking is a good way to beat traffic congestion and get an active start to the school day.”

In the United States, International Walk to School Day is expected to include 5,000 schools from all 50 states plus students and adults in 40 countries around the world, a total of nearly 4 million people worldwide.

1) F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America: United States, 2006.
(2) Transportation Characteristics of Schoolchildren, Report No. 4. Washington, D.C.: Nationwide Personal Transportation Study, Federal Highway Administration, July 1972.
(3) "Travel and Environmental Implications of School Siting," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 231-R-03-004: 2003.
(4) EPA. 2006. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector: 1990-2003.