Longer recess and more adult involvement are a recipe for getting students more active during recess, finds a new study in the journal Preventative Medicine Reports.
Researchers from Oregon State University attached fitness trackers to 4th to 6th graders to record their school activity. They found recess made up less than 6 percent of the students’ day but 27 percent of their physical activity. While recess averaged about 23 minutes across schools, the study says when recesses stretched to 30 minutes, students were more physically active throughout the period.
But the strongest predictor of how active students were during recess was the level of adult involvement—not directing games, but participating, distributing equipment, and helping resolve arguments.
