On Your Feet, Kids.

Remember walking five miles to school each day, in 10 feet of snow, up hill...both ways. An exaggeration? Maybe, but do you remember when school children walked and rode bicycles to school, friends' houses, the park and the store?

Unfortunately, young people today are not as free to walk and play outdoors. Many of our communities have been designed to be convenient for cars, not for bike riders or pedestrians. And in this fast-paced, automotive age, there is greater concern about children being crime victims, as well as pedestrian injuries.

At the same time, the number of overweight kids has more than doubled. Recess and physical education are being reduced in many schools, and after-school activities often involve a computer or a television. So the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say it is more important than ever that kids at least get the exercise of walking to and from school.

The Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at the CDC developed the Kids Walk-to-School program guide to promote physically active travel, safe and walk-able routes to school, crime prevention, and healthy environments. The guide is designed for communities and policymakers, as well as health professionals.

And the states have become proactive on the issue. Currently, 29 states have passed legislation to create councils to promote physical activity. Last year, the South Carolina Governor's Council on Physical Fitness gave money to 28 schools throughout the state to conduct a Walk Our Children to School Day event.

In 1999, the California Department of Transportation allocated $20 million per year for two years for the Safe Routes to School Program. Funds are being used to redesign roads to decrease traffic speed, improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities including sidewalks and bike lanes, and install traffic control devices.