American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

Issue: February 2008

Recess, Extracurricular Activities, and Active Classrooms: Means for Increasing Elementary School Students’ Physical Activity
David Kahan

Abstract:
Various state regulations and local policies have come into effect to guarantee that public school elementary students will have physical education in some form, frequency, and duration. In many cases, however, physical education alone is not enough, as demonstrated by the increase in the prevalence of overweight and sedentarism among children. For this reason, schools and educators should make an effort to provide children with more opportunities for physical activity. This article provides a brief synthesis of the research about, and makes recommendations for, the implementation of recess, extracurricular activities, and active classrooms as school-based means for increasing physical activity opportunities at the elementary level.

Article category: Fitness