Physical Activity Interventions during the School Day: Reviewing Policies, Practices, and Benefits

Background: There are many ways to increase physical activity (PA) during the school day as part of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Plan. This article reviews policies and practices that can be used during the school day to increase PA for students. Methods: We searched systematic reviews for articles that met criteria (2010-2018, phase 1), followed by a search for individual articles addressing topics for which we did not identify a sufficiently relevant or recent review or to update an earlier review that concluded insufficient evidence (2010-2020, phase 2). We included 45 articles (45 studies, 54 interventions). Results: We grouped studies by intervention type: school-wide PA approaches to reach all students within the school setting (17), physical education (PE) interventions (13), and interventions related to recess (15). Few studies involved secondary schools or rural settings. Among 45 studies reporting PA behavior or fitness outcomes, 37 reported at least 1 improvement. Conclusions: PA policies, PE, and recess can help improve school health by increasing the PA levels of students.