For healthier kids, put away the car and walk to school
Only a quarter of Canadian kids walk or bike to school and that’s not enough, according to a new “report card on physical activity for children and youth.”
Active Healthy Kids Canada (AHKC) is a Canadian charity that encouraged children and their parents more exercise.
Their report found that only 24 percent of 5-to 17-year-olds in Canada use “active transportation” to get to school.    On the other hand, their parents were twice as likely to walk to school when they were children.
   This year’s theme, “driving,” looked at how much exercise kids are getting when they travel to and from different places near their homes.
There are many things the report listed as possible reasons why children wouldn’t use active transportation.   Many children live too far away from their school to be able to get there by walking or biking.
Another reason is that sometimes driving is easier.    
A third reason is safety. Many parents prefer not to let their children walk to school, especially if they are young.
AHKC has some suggestions about how children can work with their parents to make active transportation a bigger part of their life.
One is for parents to drive close (but not all the way) to school, and have children get out and walk the remaining distance.
Another is for parents to take turns looking after and walking with children so that they can travel safely.
The easiest and best thing to do is for parents to tell their children to try to walk or bike to different places whenever possible- not just when they are going to school. 

A．And children can tell their parents to walk more, too!

B．The biggest one is the distance between schools and homes.

C．“Active transportation” means not using cars, trains or buses.

D．Keep a journal of when you went and how long each walk took.

E. Parents may drop their children off at school, on their way to work.
F. Every year in its report card, AHKC focuses on one aspect of healthy living.
G. In Canada over 30%of children and youth are considered overweight or obese.