Hello listeners .il



Hello listeners. This is Ben Johnson at Glenville Radio with our program “Local News,” and with me in the studio is Dr. Sally Morton from the city's department of education. Dr. Morton, two weeks ago your department began a campaign called “Get Moving,” which is designed to encourage more children to walk or ride a bicycle to school. One would expect this sort of campaign to be about the health benefits of physical activity. But I understand that is not the case.

Well, the health benefits are important, of course, but you're right, our focus here is different. You see, a study done four months ago here at Glenville University has produced strong evidence that getting some sort of physical activity on the way to school can affect the students' whole school day. Following this study, we now believe that if kids walk to school or come by bicycle, they will be more relaxed and do better in class than if they are driven to school or take the bus.

That’s interesting. What can you tell us about this study?

Well, the idea was to test the effects of the three ways children get to school: being driven, walking, and cycling. So the researchers had 60 local children between the ages of 10 and 14 come to the lab in the morning, and divided them into three groups. One group sat in comfortable chairs and watched a 15-minute video showing a journey through a local neighborhood. The second group was shown the same video, but they watched it while walking in place on a treadmill – you know, the kind of walking machine used for exercising. The third group also watched the video, but they rode an exercise bike while watching it. In other words, the researchers tried to create in the lab the experience of the three ways of getting to school.

I see. Please go on.

Then all the children were given several tests which measured how relaxed they were. It turned out that those who had been physically active during the experiment were much more relaxed than those who had simply been sitting down the whole time. But that’s not all. The kids were also given language tests, and on those tests, too, the walking and cycling groups did much better than the other group.

That’s really impressive. And how long does this effect last?

Well, we aren't sure. More research is needed to answer that question. But in view of what we've already learned, we decided to go ahead and start the Get Moving campaign. We're convinced that physical activity in the morning will help students in lots of ways in the classroom – for instance, when they're learning new material, taking an exam, or presenting a project to their classmates. And in any case, it'll be a fun way for them to start the day.

It sounds like a very good idea. Maybe I'll start walking with my kids to school instead of driving them. Thank you, Dr Morton, for coming into the studio today, and good luck with your campaign. Goodbye.

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