Free Range Kids Campaign

We all should know by now that we are facing an obesity epidemic in our children and young people. Plus we all know that exercising helps control weight gain. However many children are failing to meet recommended physical activity levels and equally worrying is the fact that 90 per cent of parents who responded to a recent survey think that their children are within the healthy weight range although more than a third of children in the UK are known to be obese.

This reflects the findings of previous studies that show that parents overestimate the amount of exercise their children are getting and underestimate their weight range.

One very simple way to increase a child's amount of exercise is to walk or ride a bike to school. However road safety fears are often what prevents parents letting their children walk or ride to school – or even play out in the street.

One way of allaying these fears and of making our roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists is to reduce the speed limit in residential areas.

The charity Sustrans has, as part of its Free Range Kids Campaign started a petition to urge the government to reduce the standard speed limit to 20mph on the streets where we live and play.

If you would like to support the Free Range Kids campaign, just sign the petition.