Posted on Wed, Oct. 8, 2008
In Pa., it’s ‘Walk to School Day’ this morning
By Dan Hardy
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Students from 225 Pennsylvania schools, including several dozen in the Philadelphia area, will walk to school today instead of taking buses as part of a campaign to fight childhood obesity through promoting the health benefits of children regularly walking and biking to school.
The Walk to School Day is sponsored by Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity (PANA), in partnership with PennDOT, which is providing the funding for PANA's Safe Routes to School initiative. The program seeks to educate schools and communities about safe walking and biking practices by providing mini-grants and technical assistance to those communities interested in implementing walking plans.
According to PANA, national statistics shows that less than 15 percent of students between the ages of 5 and 15 now walk to or from school, compared to 48 percent of children walking or cycling to school in 1969.
More information about the program and the participating schools is at the website of the Safe Routes to School Academy: www.srtsacademy.org.
Contact staff writer Dan Hardy at 610-627-2649 or dhardy@phillynews.com.
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