In the Community

October 7, 2008

Kaiser Permanente Supports International Walk to School Day Oct. 8

Kaiser Permanente physicians and employees nationwide will walk to school with families and students Oct. 8 to mark International Walk to School Day and increase awareness of the importance of physical activity and our impact on the environment.

Walking to school directly relates to several key issues for Kaiser Permanente, and to community health concerns in general. While half of all children walked or bicycled to school in 1969, fewer than 15 percent of children do so today. Not coincidentally, rates of childhood obesity in the United States have increased dramatically in the past 30 years. In addition, 20 to 30 percent of morning traffic in many communities is caused by parents driving children to schools, and traffic-related crashes are a leading cause of death and injury for children in the United States.

Safe Routes to School is an international movement to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to and from schools. The program has been designed to reverse the decline in children walking and bicycling to schools. While its most visible presence is International Walk to School Day, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership is a year-round resource that helps communities develop and maintain Safe Routes to School programs.

Kaiser Permanente's Community Health Initiatives and Healthy Eating Active Living efforts are now at work in 27 communities nationwide. These initiatives focus on creating healthy neighborhoods, and provide an important source of support for state and local Safe Routes programs, bike and walking trails, and other places for people to get safe physical activity as part of everyday life.

In addition to several Kaiser Permanente physicians and employees who will be walking to school with children, two Kaiser Permanente leaders recently recorded conversations about the importance of waking and biking to school:

• Loel Solomon, Kaiser Permanente's national Director of Community Health Initiatives and Evaluation, talks in this podcast about why walking and biking to school specifically – and increasing daily activity in general – are critical health improvement strategies.
  
• Sandy Stenmark, MD, Kaiser Permanente Colorado's director of pediatric wellness, talks in this podcast about the health, environmental, and social benefits of walking or biking to school, and offers tips for families about how to make it work.

For more information about Kaiser Permanente's work to improve the communities it serves, view the organization's Community Benefit Web site.