Walking to school: One in three children driven to school live less than a mile awayAlamy

Here at Parentdish we're looking forward to the start of the new school term - and to celebrate we asked 2000 parents about walking to school.

But we were amazed by some of the findings in our back to school survey:

* One in three children who are driven to school live less than a mile from the gates

* One in 10 parents will drive their children less than 500 yards!

* And yet 68% of parents would rather their children walked to school

* Children are three times more likely to be driven to school than their parents were.

After the inspiration of the Olympics and the start of the Paralympics today thousands of children are keen to be more physically active and do more sport - and yet nearly half of the parents surveyed drove their children to school.

Busy mums and dads cited time pressures (46%) as one of the main reasons they drive their children to school.

Jumping in the car for the school run may be the convenient option, especially when we're all so time pressed, but leaving a little more time to walk to school really does reap rewards for everyone. (33% of the parents who did drive their children to school worried about lack of exercise - while 30% were concerned about the cost of petrol!)

The walk to school is a time to give your children some undivided attention without the demands of home and work, and a brisk walk really does set everyone up for the day ahead.

Over a quarter of parents who do walk their children to school told us that spending time together whilst walking to school was what they most valued about the journey - and a further 22% stated that it gave them a fantastic opportunity to socialise with other parents and children.

It's also a great way for children to become part of their local community, whether it's greeting the same shop owner every morning or walking on the same wiggly wall from reception to year 6, instead of simply seeing life whizz past from behind the glass of a car window.

Why not start the new term with a resolution to try to walk to school.


Our survey, conducted in association with OnePoll, surveyed 2,000 adults with school-aged children about their school-run plans for the term ahead.