The additional activity recorded by walkers during the average six minute walk to school was only two per cent of the children's weekly activity.
When you compare the activity levels of those who walked with those who were driven, there was no difference. The researchers say "being driven to school does not affect the overall physical activity of five-year-olds".
Meanwhile last week's public health white paper bangs the drum for walking to school. "The contribution of the school journey to children's physical activity is important", it says. It goes on to cite research among Year 8 pupils that showed that more calories were burned up walking to and from school than during their two hours of weekly PE lessons.
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