Remember 'walking to school?'

 (Dr. Micah Jacobs is a pediatrician affiliated with the National Safe Child Initiative.)

Thirty years ago, the sight of children walking or biking to school was common. In fact, nearly 90 percent of children who lived within a mile of school used walking or bicycling as their primary mode of travel.

In recent years, the rate of active transport has declined dramatically. Why?

Parents of schoolchildren most commonly report: distance to school, traffic danger, adverse weather conditions and fear of crime as barriers.

It's true that fewer students live within a mile of their school as compared to earlier times. However, it does not explain it all; walking or bicycling to school has also significantly declined among children who still live less than a mile from school.

Weather changes over the past two decades have been minimal, at best.

As for safety, the risk of violent crimes against youth aged 12 and up has actually dropped in the past 30 years. Of those numbers, the rate of youth abduction is low in school areas.

The use of automobiles for transportation to/from school has increased from 16 percent in 1969 to more than 46 percent today. Half of children struck near schools are hit by vehicles driven by parents of students. Obviously, an increase in the number of parents driving their children to school increases the risks for those who walk or bike.

So, what can we do?

A primary solution is to examine school siting. Bringing back smaller neighborhood schools rather than large facilities built on the outskirts of town is already being planned in some localities.

An interim solution is to establish meeting places within a mile of school and create "Walking School Buses," where adults can accompany groups of children walking to school.

We can also combat traffic danger in school areas by lowering speed limits and enforcing them, installing speed humps, increasing sidewalks and bus paths to a school, requesting police patrols, and pressuring local school boards to encourage walking and bicycling.

It also might help to educate parents on the misconceptions about safety, as well as dressing for the weather and the benefits of their children being outdoors.

Some school districts have already begun this process through the "Safe Routes to School" programs. At the same time, the federal government's Healthy People 2010 objective is to increase the proportion of trips to school of one mile or less to 50 percent.

Both of these programs provide resources for school districts, parent groups and community organizations. Parent education and school leaders' resolve are the key elements to success.