A third of American children live within a mile of school

Nearly 35 percent of American children live within a mile of their school, but only half of those students regularly get to school on foot or on a bicycle, says a report in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The percentage of youngsters walking or biking to school is higher in urban areas, however. Sarah Martin and colleagues at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the reasons for the greater frequency of walking and biking in urban areas are complex. Among them: more urban schools are situated in mixed-use neighborhoods, which make biking and walking more feasible, and it’s easier to find safe sidewalks in cities than in some suburbs. Nearly 19 percent of children aged 6 to 11 are overweight — one reason why more of them should walk or bike to school, according to the CDC.