Attention young Seattle Bike Blog readers (and parents): A study of the health impact of school bike trains needs your help!

Common sense says that biking to school is good for the health of Seattle students, but exactly how good is it? That’s what a crew from Seattle Children’s wants to measure.

Researchers are in an early phase of the project and are looking for children between 9 – 12 years old to wear activity monitors for a couple hours while doing different kinds of activity. Plus you’ll get $30!

Kids do not need to know how to ride a bike, and parents will need to have access to a car since the study will also look at how sitting in a car impacts a child’s health.

Details from Maya Jacobs:

Hello!

After a year of life without bike trains, I am back on board with Seattle Children’s Research Institute on a bike train research project. I am really excited to be working on a project that will determine the impact of physical activity (namely biking) on the health of school children. Our results will help inform kids, parents, teachers and organizers of the benefits of biking to school.

And right now we need your help! We are in the preliminary equipment testing stage and are looking for about 40 kids ages 9-12 who can ride a bike to spend about 1.5 hours with us at a Seattle park or community center. Each kid will wear an accelerometer, GPS, and heart rate monitor while completing various simple physical activities. You and your child’s information will be completely confidential and anonymity of research participants will be protected. Participants will be rewarded with $30 for their time.

If you are interested please contact me. Your participation is REALLY helpful and will be GREATLY appreciated. Email me (Maya) at: [email protected].