Parents are running the risk of ruining their children's health by driving them to school, according to a new report from The Pedestrians Association.

The report, The School Run -- Blessing or Blight? coincides with initiatives due to be launched by Barnet Council to persuade parents to leave the car at home.

Dr Ian Roberts from the Institute of Child Health, commissioned to write the report, concluded that while parents drive their children to school to protect them from danger, what they are actually doing is increasing the risks of obesity and dependency.

"Adults are already walking less, with increased risk to their health," said Dr Roberts. "The present generation of children, progressively losing the habit of walking to school, will continue the trend."

The report suggests the main factors which have led to a decline in walking to school appear to be "lifestyle" issues, such as rising car ownership -- particularly the increasing number of mothers with cars, and parental fears of molestation, abduction and traffic.

Jenny Brown, the secretary of Barnet Parents Federation, said that with cases of child asthma on the increase, cutting down on car usage was an obvious choice.

"Whenever we have held Walk to School Weeks they have always been a great success. Most parents and carers would rather their child walked to school, but I imagine a lot of people have got lazy and also parents need to get to work."

Barnet Council confirmed it was exploring the issue and had already chosen eight schools to take part in a consultation exercise. A spokesman said: "We are keen to discuss with parents what affects their decisions on how children get to school. As a council we are determined to reduce the number of cars on the roads."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.