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news
Chris Boardman at the Get Britain Cycling InquiryChris Boardman: get kids on bikes to solve childhood obesity
Making cycle training compulsory for all school children would help to solve Britain’s obesity "ticking timebomb", British Cycling policy advisor Chris Boardman says.
British Cycling cites figures from the Health Survey for England that show childhood obesity at its highest ever level. One in three children under 15 is overweight or obese. Boardman said that it is no coincidence that only half of schools now offer cycle training for children after the cycling proficiency test was scrapped in 2007.
Boardman said: “For the first time there is now a danger that the next generation’s lifespan will be shorter than ours. Obesity in children is a ticking timebomb across Britain and until we start prioritising cycling as a form of transport and building exercise into young people’s daily lives this problem will only get worse.
“Cycling is a vital life skill that all children should have and is something that children carry with them throughout their adult lives. Bikeability training shouldn’t just be the preserve of children whose schools or local authorities happen to promote cycling - it should be for everyone.
"We’ve taught thousands of young people how to ride bikes but there are still millions of children who are missing out on cycling. Our partnership with Modeshift to encourage positive action at local level will strive to turn this situation around. Positive action at a local level, however small, can have a powerful ripple effect if those actions are replicated widely.”
Modeshift is a lottery-funded body that provides resources to local authorities to encourage schools to adopt active travel. Membership, and therefore acces to its resources, is only available to officers of local authorities. Boardman was speaking at the organisation's national conference.
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
Latest Comments
- mdavidford 2 hours 7 min ago
Consequences like a random anonymous person posting a sniffy reply. That'll learn 'em.
- Simon E 2 hours 18 min ago
The top-end stuff works by association or reputation. Just like car and motorbike manufacturers spend many millions on racing a vehicle with their...
- ktache 2 hours 22 min ago
The innattention and bad driving had been going on for more than a few seconds, probably years. At least it's a five year ban.
- Cayo 2 hours 44 min ago
Having quite literally been left for dead by a hit and run motorbike rider, unconscious with 3 broken ribs, lung damage and relatively minor damage...
- cmedred 3 hours 45 min ago
So Mr. Swann's attorney said "Swann had not pulled out of the junction at speed,'' but what did the witness say? Did Mr, Swann slow down at all at...
- ktache 3 hours 48 min ago
I understand that the multi tool is an essential8, so screwdriver bits are available including the JIS 2.
- BikingBud 4 hours 8 min ago
It is interesting to see what may or may not be claimed by people involved in catstrophic incidents:...
- Miller 4 hours 15 min ago
Pogi is going to come out of the gate flying and with a point to make. The early stages have the potential to allow him to build a substantial lead...
- NOtotheEU 5 hours 29 min ago
I can't believe he isn't more excited about the chance to swap one rich out of touch neocon globalist for another, whats wrong with him?
- Rendel Harris 6 hours 18 min ago
So does pretty much every major company, including the most successful. You might as well say Halfords have lifts in their offices, have lifts go...
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33 comments
Totally agree with you Cyclist; CB is a legend.
Totally disagree with you too; He hasn't made himself look silly. He makes very valid points. Is not about everybody loving cycling. Is not about forcing people to use bikes. Is about making it the best most convenient option for transport. Including (or should be 'particularly') for children. Is about using bikes as tools. Not everyone who drives loves driving. We just do it, regardless we like it, love or not. But a mayor benefit is that children can ride bikes. They can't drive. Not everyone in Netherlands loves cycling. Most people on bikes there don't even know what Shimano is. They don't care. They just use the bike. Not everybody using a vacuum cleaner loves cleaning the house. They are just the best and most convenient tool to be used for a purpose. In Netherlands thousands of children don't ride to school because is healthier. They are not forced to cycling. They just have made it the most convenient way of transport (not sport). But as "indirect" benefit, you get children on bikes and healthier and more independent. Definitive not naive statements from CB. Get children on bikes pronto or we start paying the consequences (and the price) soon.
Totally agree with you; CB is a legend.
Totally disagree with you; He hasn't made himself look silly. He makes very valid points. Is not about everybody loving cycling. Is not about forcing people to use bikes. Is about making it the best most convenient option for transport. Including (or should be 'particularly') for children. Is about using bikes as tools. Not everyone who drives loves driving. We just do it, regardless we like it, love or not. But a mayor benefit is that children can ride bikes. They can't drive. Not everyone in Netherlands loves cycling. Most people on bikes there don't even know what Shimano is. They don't care. They just use the bike. Not everybody using a vacuum cleaner loves cleaning the house. They are just the best and most convenient tool to be used for a purpose. In Netherlands thousands of children don't ride to school because is healthier. They are not forced to cycling. They just have made it the most convenient way of transport (not sport). But as "indirect" benefit, you get children on bikes and healthier and more independent. Definitive not naive statements from CB. Get children on bikes pronto or we start paying the consequences (and the price) soon.
Straight talking C.B. v league tables; who wins?
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