Increasing Physical Activity Through Recess
Research Briefs & Syntheses

Increasing Physical Activity Through Recess

January 2012
Author:
Aaron Beighle, Ph.D.
Topic:
Schools, School Policies, Recess
Population Served:
Lower-income Families, Multiple Race/Ethnic Sample, School-age Youth (K-12)
Location by State:
National
DOWNLOAD (0.21 MB)
Summary:

The Challenge: Regular physical activity can reduce children’s risk of obesity and improve their classroom performance, but many schools provide few opportunities for students to be active.

Make an impact: Schools can provide excellent opportunities for children to be physically active through regular recess.

What the findings are about: This brief summarizes the growing body of research examining recess, which shows that providing recess during the school day is an effective and efficient way to increase physical activity and improve academic performance among children.

Key Findings and Recommendations:
  • Providing recess breaks throughout the day can improve students’ classroom behavior and attentiveness.
  • Children can accumulate up to 40 percent of their total daily physical activity during recess.
  • There are many effective strategies for increasing children’s levels of physical activity during recess, including inexpensive playground equipment, interactive games with recess supervisors, painted playground surfaces, and designating space for "activity zones".
  • The number of school districts that require or recommend daily recess may be decreasing.
  • Children at high risk for obesity are least likely to have recess.
Suggested Citations:
Beighle A. Increasing Physical Activity Through Recess. A Research Brief. Princeton, NJ: Active Living Research, a National Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; January 2012. Available from: www.activelivingresearch.org.
 

Related Tools & Resources

All Tools & Resources

School Policies on Physical Education and Physical Activity
Document Type: Research Briefs & Syntheses
Topics:
Schools, School Policies, Physical Education, Recess, Activity Breaks, Joint Use Agreements, School Facilities

STAY UP TO DATE

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.

RECENTLY ADDED TOOLS & RESOURCES
Open Streets: Trends and Opportunities
Research Briefs & Syntheses
Contributing to helping to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Truly shifting...
Research Papers
A Northern European perspective on creating more activity friendly cities
Research Papers

more tools & resources
Annual Conference 2021

We are pleased to announce an exciting new alliance between Active Living Research and GP RED to co-host and coordinate...

more info

MOVE! A BLOG ABOUT ACTIVE LIVING
New Name – Same Great Conference!

The "Active Living Conference" aims to break down research and practice silos and...

August 14, 2018
Event

more MOVE!