One in 10 parents who live within 500 yards of their child's school admits driving them to the school gates, research suggests.

More than half of British school children will not be walking to school when term starts next week, according to data collated by parenting website parentdish.co.uk.

A third of children who get a lift to school live less than a mile away, the study finds.

Around two-thirds (68%) of parents would rather their children walk to school but give them a lift because of time pressures, according to the research conducted among 2,000 adults with school-age children.

Tamsin Kelly, editor of parentdish.co.uk, said: "These findings are shocking, especially when the Olympics have inspired so many children to want to be more physically active and do more sport.

"Jumping in the car for the school run may be the easy option, especially when we're all so time-pressed, but leaving a little more time to walk to school really does reap rewards for everyone. It's a time to give your children some undivided attention without the demands of home and work, and a brisk walk really does set them up for the start of the day."

Meanwhile, separate research finds that a third of Year 6 children are obese or overweight.

Four-fifths (80%) of primary care trusts (PCTs) in England report an increase in the number of obese children aged 10 and 11 over the past five years, data analysts Ssentif said.

Just over a third of PCTs report an increase in obesity in children aged four and five.