text: Intermediate 
  As soon as the children at one primary school in Stirling, Scotland, hear the words daily mile, they put down their pencils and leave the classroom to start running around the school  eld. For three-and-a-half years, all the pupils at St Ninians Primary School have walked or run a mile each day. They do it at different times during the day and, despite the rise in childhood obesity across the UK, none of the children at the school are overweight.
  The daily mile has done so much to improve these childrens  tness, behaviour and concentration in lessons that many other British schools are doing the same. They are getting pupils to get up from their desks and take 15 minutes to walk or run round the school or local park.
  Elaine Wyllie, headteacher of St Ninians, said: I get at least two emails a day from other schools and local authorities asking how we do it. The thought of children across the country running every day because of something weve done is phenomenal.
  One in ten children are obese when they start school at the age of four or  ve, according to the Health & Social Care Information Centre, and, in the summer of 2015, a study found that schoolchildren in England are the least  t they have ever been. Primary schools therefore accept the bene ts of the daily mile. It has been introduced in schools in various parts of the UK and other schools are planning to launch the initiative during the 2015-16 academic year. In Stirling alone, 30 schools have already started or will soon start the daily mile.
  Its a common-sense approach to childrens  tness, which is free and easy. The most important thing is that the children really enjoy it; otherwise, you couldnt sustain it. They come back inside bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked, how children used to look, said Wyllie. At St Ninians, teachers take their pupils out of lessons to a specially built circuit around the schools playing  eld for their daily mile whenever it best suits that days timetable. Only ice or very heavy rain stop them.
  The extent of the bene ts isnt known yet but researchers from Stirling University have launched a comparative study to look for evidence of the physical, cognitive and emotional bene ts of the daily mile. Dr Colin Moran, who is leading the study, said: The children dont seem to have problems with obesity; they seem happier and staff say they settle into lessons faster so we designed a study that would test all of these things. St Ninians pupils will be compared with children from another school in Stirling that hasnt yet started the scheme.
  Kevin Clelland, a primary school teacher from Leeds, visited St Ninians and, then, convinced his colleagues it was a great idea. He said: Its such a simple thing to do but seems to have such an amazing impact. Were really committed to improving the  tness of our pupils. His school is now building a track.
  Active Cheshire, a sports and  tness organization in Cheshire, is taking a group of senior people from the local authority up to Scotland to assess the results of the daily mile. The hope is to introduce it across the 450 schools in their region if a pilot programme is successful.
  Paralympian, Tanni Grey-Thompson, chair of ukactive, a health organization for physical activity, said: All children need to achieve 60 active minutes every day, whether in a lesson, on the walk to school or in the playground. Its fantastic to see initiatives like the daily mile, showing real leadership from the education sector to improve childrens  tness levels and their cognitive behaviour, and make a real difference to schools, teachers, parents and young peoples lives. We know sitting still kills; not sitting still helps children build skills that will stay with them for life.
  The Scottish government also supports the initiative. A spokesperson said: Learning in PE is enhanced by initiatives like the daily mile, which can encourage and support parents in fostering healthy habits with their children from a young age. We are pleased to see so many Scottish schools are taking part or planning to do so.