Why schools should promote more recess and activity break time and not use
recess as a punishment October 14, 2010 Andrew Springer, DrPH
Andrew.e.springer@uth.tmc.edu
Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living,
University of Texas School of Public Health-Austin
Recent position statements on recess from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (2006)
and physical activity experts (Pate et al., 2006) recommend that children should receive between 20 and 30
minutes of daily recess time per day. The following provides a brief rationale for why recess time should be
promoted in schools and why recess time should not be taken away as a form of behavior management or
discipline.
1) Children’s physical fitness and children’s engagement in physical activity are associated with
greater academic achievement and cognitive functioning.

Physical Fitness: Primary and secondary school-aged children who are more physically fit have been
found to perform better in school and have increased academic achievement and other measures of
cognitive functioning (Coe et al., 2006; California Department of Education, 2001; Maynard et al.,
1987; Shephard et al., 1984; Shephard et al., 1994; Castelli et al., 2007; Chomitz et al., 2009;
Roberts et al., 2010).

Physical Activity: Children who engage in more physical activity have also been found to have better
academic performance (Caterino et al., 1999; Coe et al., 2006; Keays and Allison, 1995; McNaughten
and Gabbard, 1993; Pate et al., 1996; Raudsepp and Viira, 2000; Shephard, 1996; Shephard and
Lavallee, 1994; Sibley and Etnier, 2003.)

Experimental research with incorporating physical activity breaks into the school day: While much
research on the association between physical activity and academic achievement is based on crosssectional research, the Pass & CATCH Study, a recent quasi-experimental study of elementary school
students in 8 schools in Texas, found that children who attended intervention schools with increased
physical activity breaks during the day achieved significantly higher math and reading scores based
on a standardized academic achievement test compared to students in comparison schools, with the
strongest effects found for students with increased emotional or behavioral problems (Murray et al.,
under review). Further evidence for the impact of incorporating more physical activity during the
school day was recently documented by Reed and colleagues (2010). In this experimental study,
significant increases on the SPM Fluid Intelligence test, state-mandated Social Studies test, and
higher scores on English, Math and Science tests were found for 3rd grade students in schools in
which classroom teachers incorporated 30 minutes of physical activity into their core curriculum on
three days per week.

Mechanisms through which students may increase academic achievement include: increased arousal
and reduced boredom- resulting in increased attention span and concentration, and higher selfesteem, which may improve classroom behavior and academic achievement (Coe et al., 2006;
Shephard, 1996). '
2) Elementary school children who have more minutes of recess time have been found to have
better classroom behavior.

Barros et al (2009) found that recess periods of >15 minutes 1 or more times a day were associated
with better teachers’ ratings of elementary school children’s class behavior.
3) Recess is important for children’s socialization, school adjustment, and overall social
development (Burdette & Whitaker, 2005; Pellegrini & Bohn, 2005; Pelligrini & Blatchford,2002).
4) Increased physical activity time during the school day does not adversely affect student
academic achievement (Dwyer et al., 1983; Shephard and Roy, 1996; Sallis et al., 1999; Katz et al.,
2010).
5) Children who engage in more physical activity have better physical and mental health.

Children’s participation in regular physical activity is associated with improved cardiovascular and
musculoskeletal health, better mental health and emotional well-being outcomes, and prevention of
chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes (Institute of Medicine, 2005;
USDHHS, 1996).

Research on 3rd grade students in Missouri found that children in intervention schools where physical
activity breaks were incorporated reported lower medication use for asthma and attention-deficit
disorder. Children in the intervention group were also found to have significant increases in physical
fitness. (Katz et al., 2010).
6) Establishment of an active lifestyle in childhood leads to a more active lifestyle in adulthood.

A large body of evidence indicates that children tend to become less physically active as they move
through adolescence (USDHHS, 1996; McMurray et al., 2003; Kelder et al., 1994; Kimm et al.,
2002). Despite this well documented decline, physical activity has also been found to track from
childhood to adulthood (Malina, 1996; Telama et al., 2005), suggesting that the establishment of an
active lifestyle early in children may reap benefits for an active lifestyle later in life
7) Physical activity may provide other benefits to children’s positive development.


Physical activity participation in adolescent girls- not limited to sports team participation- is
protective against sexual risk taking, including early sexual onset, failure to use birth control, and
teenage pregnancy (Miller et al., 2002).
Based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, obese girls are half as
likely to attend college as their normal weight peers (Crosnoe, 2007).
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