ACCORDING to new research undertaken in advance of Walk to School month by Raisingkids 41 per cent of children over seven currently don't walk to school.

This figure is in line with Government statistics for primary school children being driven to school, who it is feared are becoming a generation of backseat children.

The research, published in July and sponsored by Pom-Bear, revealed that of those surveyed who do walk their children to school, the main benefit of doing so was stated as exercise (50 per cent), with the walk to and from school ensuring kids get enough physical exercise each day.

The Department of Health recommends that children take an average of 13,000 steps per day, to guarantee enough exercise to avoid the threat of obesity and diseases such as diabetes and osteoporosis in later life.

Currently, only six out of ten boys and four out of ten girls achieve the recommended one hour of moderate physical activity every day.

Following exercise, the next main benefit given for children walking to school (by 23 per cent of parents surveyed) is to enable them to learn about road safety awareness.

Children see things differently to grown ups. Their peripheral vision is two thirds that of an adult and they have difficulty determining where noise is coming from. They also cannot judge the speed and distance of vehicles. Which, perhaps, explains why just 12 per cent of 8 to 10 year olds traveled to school without an adult in 2006 compared to 80 per cent of 7 to 8 year olds in 1971.

To tackle this growing issue the children's road safety KM Walk to School offers three services to assist schools and parent groups in Kent:

Walk on Wednesday - simple starter scheme with children given stickers and rewards for walking to school.

Walking Bug - a step up from WOW as this scheme includes curriculum activities for golden time in the classroom.

Walking Bus - parents collaborate to take children to school along set routes. Road safety skill tests and regular rewards are a feature of this initiative.

For more information contact the walk to school team on 0844 264 0292.