By Jessica Anstice
Every March, students across the Cardinia shire are encouraged to walk, ride or scoot to and from school to help build healthy, active habits for life.
Mobile March started last week and now in its tenth year, the council’s campaign aims to increase physical activity in children through awareness, education, competition and prizes.
Cardinia Shire mayor Jeff Springfield encouraged students to step up to the Mobile March challenge and experience the value of physical activity and quality time spent with peers and family.
“Only one in five kids aged five to 17 years get the recommended one hour of physical activity every day, which is why it’s so important that we have as many primary schools participating in Mobile March as possible,” he said.
“In 2019, 17 local schools participated in Mobile March, with more than 6500 students involved, and we’re hoping to beat this record again in 2020.
“It’s great to see students engage in active, healthy and social ways to get to and from school – and I look forward to seeing all the creative ways students keep active at schools where active travel is challenging.”
For schools where active travel is a challenge, teachers encourage and support children to participate in laps around the football ovals or basketball courts, so that everyone can get active.
Participating in Mobile March as well as Bicycle Network’s National Ride2School Day on Friday 13 March is a great way for children to discover the benefits of being active and for families to consider how they can incorporate active travel into their morning and afternoon routines.
The council also has a number of ‘stop and drop’ zones available across the shire, which enables families that usually drive to school to park the car at a designated stop and drop zone or a short distance from school and walk the rest of the way.
Each day, teachers at participating primary schools will tally the students who were active as part of the program.
Participating schools will go in the running to win the coveted place and trophy for Mobile March’s ‘Most Active School’ in Cardinia shire.
The campaign is being promoted in partnership with Aligned Leisure who are running the ‘Active Families’ initiative, encouraging families to share how they enjoy being active together.
A weekly $50 Coles voucher can be won, with a further opportunity for three participating families to win a $100 Coles voucher at the end of the initiative.
Families can register for the Active Families competition online at https://alignedleisure.formstack.com/forms/mobile_march_registration
