National Walk Safely to School Day provides new online tool to plan route

NATIONAL Walk Safely to School Day, which is celebrating 13 years, has become a popular annual event across Australia, and will be celebrated this year on Friday, May 18.

The day offers wide-ranging benefits to Australian children It promotes regular walking, reduced car-dependency, cleaner air, improved diets, public transport, and reinforces vital road-crossing skills children need.

Parents, carers and pupils can, for the first time, go online this year to find and plan their best walking route to school at walk.com.au.

Surveys show more than 60% of primary school aged children are being driven to school and many get very little exercise. If the trends continue, more than one in three children will be overweight or obese by 2020.

All parents, carers and children are urged to put their feet first and actively participate in National Walk Safely to School Day and then to walk as much as possible every day.