By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

U of L researcher says kids who walk or bike to school are healthier later

Nov 19, 2018 | 4:47 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Remember walking to school, or riding your bike?

That’s an experience fewer children have these days, and a University of Lethbridge researcher argues it’s affecting Canadians’ long-term health. Dr. Richard Larouche of the Faculty of Health Sciences says in his new book, Children’s Active Transportation, that new paradigms should be looked at in how we locate schools but also parks and sports fields.

“The data’s pretty clear that there’s been quite a decline in the proportion of kids who walk or bike to school over the past few decades,” Larouche said in an interview. “One of the key factors for children to walk or bike to school is the distance between home and school. Studies suggest the distance has increased over time.”

Larouche said that’s due to issues like urban sprawl and the closure of smaller schools. Urban planners are one of the groups he’s hoping to reach with this book.

“I think what we are trying to suggest with the book is that we should perhaps switch the paradigm that we’ve used over the last few decades in transportation, which has been a lot about maximizing mobility,” he said, “and to switch to a different paradigm that is more about accessibility, to make sure that there are lots of destinations that are available including schools but also parks, shops, sport places, that children but also older adults who no longer drive could have access to.”

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Parental attitudes are another factor. Larouche, who has a master’s degree from Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres and a Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa, explained children, in general, have less freedom to travel about their neighbourhoods, and places like school may fall outside those boundaries. That’s why it’s not uncommon to see kids being driven to school by their parents.

“This comes down to parents’ attitudes, permissions, and often there’s also this fear that crime has gone up and this issue around ‘stranger danger,’ a fear that has increased over time, and it doesn’t seem to be connected to the actual evidence.”

What’s the impact? Larouche argues the habits we learn as kids stay with us in our day-to-day lives. So, if we use active transportation when we’re young, we remain active, and therefore healthier, with lower risk factors for cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and stroke.

Larouche is launching his book Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Andy’s Place (AH100) on campus. Unlike his past writing in peer-reviewed journals, he’s hoping to reach a wider audience including urban planning and public health professionals.