With only half of Australia’s children and young people using active transport at least once per week to travel to and/or from school, and only one third of Australian children and young people using active transport daily, parents and children are being called on to take part in National Walk Safely to School Day this Friday.

Active Healthy Kids Australia (AHKA) report that only one in five Australian kids are meeting the recommended national physical activity guidelines of accumulating at least 60 mins of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) every day.

Active transport (defined as walking, using a scooter or riding) is one of the key behaviours that contributes to the overall physical activity levels of Australia’s children.

Children who use active transport to get to or from school are not only more physically active than those who do not but, also accumulate more daily minutes of health enhancing activity - take more steps, expend more energy over the day and generally have better health-related fitness.