The therapeutic value of children's everyday travel

This paper looks at the role of travel as a facilitator and provider of children's physical activity which is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Health issues are becoming an increasingly strong element in the utility associated with the choice of mode for children by parents. The paper draws on research in which 200 children were fitted with three-dimensional motion sensors and asked to keep travel and activity diaries over a period of four days. From these it is possible to establish what the children did, how they travelled and how much energy they used. The data are used to test two hypotheses: firstly that travel can increase children's volume of physical activity by providing access to events that provide greater intensities of physical activity than being at home; and secondly that walking can provide significant volumes of physical activity in its own right.