New Delhi: Delhi schools are finally waking up to the scourge that is obesity. With 29 per cent of Delhi school kids between the age of 14 to 18 years being obese, a couple of schools have hit upon an old idea to tackle this big-sized problem.

For a student of Class IX, Aditya, going to school just became healthier. Plus, he seems to like the freedom this mode of transportation provides. "It helps me tackle stress of academics and helps me warm up," he adds.

International surveys say no exercise is slowly edging out over-eating as a reason for rising obesity. An All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) survey of 1,000 school goers in Delhi found 80 per cent of them did not exercise at all.

Schools like Delhi Public School and Tagore International are now pushing the bicycle as a fun way to keep fit and are encouraging students to cycle to school. “I would rather they came in bicycles than motor cycles or cars. So I tell them if they are willing to come by cycles, we will take care of them, we have a cycle stand. There are many senior students who come by cycles. It's a physical activity that builds stamina,” says Principal of Tagore International School, Madhulika Sen.

In Britain, the Government plans to pay parents who make kids cycle to school.

But on Delhi's killer roads, cycling might not be such a great idea. Till the Government provides safe cycle tracks or city drivers have a change of heart, cycling fever may take time to catch on.