What the French specialize in is moving all the time, not just during gym class. For example, elementary-age students throughout the country have three set recess periods during the day: a 15-minute run-around in the morning, a 60-minute recess after lunch, and another 15-minute break in the afternoon. On top of these designated times, children are encouraged to walk and bike to school, although this depends largely on the proximity of home to school. Bicycle parking spaces are usually all used up in the morning at our local school, and while younger students ride to school next to an adult, the older fifth graders often cycle on their own.

Aside from two hourlong periods of gym during the week, kids often walk during school outings and field trips (which can include anything from an hour to the local library, a visit to local farms, to the lakeside for paddleboard lessons, or a hike up a local mountain). Walking is emphasized at even younger ages—indeed 3- and 4-year-olds in preschool will walk up to 2 kilometers in an afternoon to go visit the local library. Sometimes they walk to the local retirement home to sing songs for the elderly. Elementary-age schoolchildren in the big French cities walk just as much — it's often easier for them because of sidewalks.

"Even the youngest children in preschool walk together every week," explains Cahuzac. "Those who want to complain usually just follow the pack and eventually get in the habit of walking."