Walk Oct. 3 and take a step toward fitness

When is the last time you walked somewhere when you weren't forced?

Nobody is forcing anybody to walk to school on Oct. 3, but wouldn't it be great if our students would hoof it to class and their parents joined them?

We have all read how American kids are packing on extra weight faster than their parents.

The predictions are dire. Obesity has tripled in our children during the past three decades. This epidemic has led to higher rates of diabetes and heart disease.

It's going to get worse before it gets better.

Our children watch everything we do. If we eat Twinkies for breakfast, lay on the couch all day swilling beer and watching football, why do we think our children will turn out any different than that?

Where's the national wakeup call that scares all of us enough to eat healthy and exercise a bit more.

How about joining the Rotary clubs and most of the students in Sandpoint on Oct. 3 and go for a walk?

It could be the start of something good.

? David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee and is walking with his son to SMS and his daughter to the Carden Academy on Oct. 3.