The Halton Region Health Department and Halton District School Board have been collaborating on an initiative they hope will have all school kids -- who live within 1.5 kilometres of their elementary school -- walking to class.

Parents are being urged to surrender the wheel and partake in a movement that will revolutionize the way children commute to and from school. Schools are being encouraged to rally support in classrooms. Perhaps most importantly, children are being given the chance to undo damage that hours of video-game playing and sitting in front of the computer have caused.

You might be thinking; they can talk the talk, but will they walk the walk?

Well, eight schools in the Halton District School Board are now the pilot projects for the Active and Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) program, which aims to promote healthy living, as well as reduce air pollution and traffic congestion in the region, in one fell swoop.

At the ASRTS kickoff forum last Thursday (April 3), the eight participating schools received Walking School Bus kits, which contained an information package, umbrellas, a wagon, and a school bus mascot. Two schools from Oakville, E.J. James Public School and Maple Grove Public School, are involved in the project. Alexander's Public School and Central Public School from Burlington are also participating, as well as Sam Sherratt School and Hawthorne Village Public School from Milton, Centennial from Georgetown, and McKenzie-Smith-Bennett from Acton.

In her opening remarks at the forum, Jennifer Jenkins, Project Manager at the Halton Region Health Department, highlighted three health issues that the new program will treat: youth physical activity, air quality and injury prevention. Three grand claims, with several supporting facts.

On the health front, statistics point to a higher rate of obese children today than in the 1970s. According to Jenkins, eight per cent of children today are obese, compared to the three per cent of yesteryear. Randy Calvert, Program Manager of Metabolism, Exercise and Nutrition at McMaster Children's Hospital, gave an optimistic example of a walk-to-school program in North Carolina. The students who walked to school regularly increased their daily activity by 24 minutes a day. He cited the study of a 14-year-old girl who increased her activity by three per cent a day for a month. Though a modest increase in activity, she warded off what could potentially have developed into diabetes, he said.

Calvert warned that only 20 per cent of children are meeting physical activity targets, and that they have been sucked into bad habits.

The ASRTS program was launched eight years ago at Morton Way Public School in Brampton, where it is now a tremendous success.

Morton Way teacher Kirstin Schwass, who won the International Walk to School Award in 2006, is the program co-ordinator. At her school, 85-95 per cent of students walk to school on Wednesdays, referred to as 'Walking Wednesdays.' All the students live within 1.5 km of the school.

According to Schwass, the program increases activity levels, reduces traffic congestion on the school site, keeps streets safer by "putting more eyes on the street" and helps to create a sense of community.

Walking School Bus (WSB) drivers meet kids at various locations, wearing fluorescent vests. There are usually two staff members and one parent who supervise the students. WSB drivers give children an opportunity to walk at least once a week. There are incentives for students to walk often, such as rewarding those who have walked 50 times with a walker charm.

There are also initiatives in place to reduce vehicular emissions. Parents are asked not to idle their cars by the school for more than five minutes. In addition, there is a '25 or less' campaign. If there are 25 or less cars in the school parking lot during the morning drop off, the students are rewarded with 'Fitness Friday.' The school brings out playground equipment such as hula hoops and rubber chickens.

"Most of the students walk with their friends or family. I walk with my grandmother, so that she can get the exercise she needs, too," read Schwass, quoting a Grade 5 student at the Morton Way Public School. Schwass credits the program with helping students to learn to set goals, and making them proud about helping the environment.

For more information about the Walk to School program, please visit http://www.saferoutestoschool.ca.