Recess / Recess Before Lunch

Boy on a swing

The daily exercise that results from recess helps to improve health and physical fitness, and there are many benefits to scheduling recess before lunch. Use these resources to learn more!
School Health Guidelines to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (PDF | 973 KB)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Guideline 2 (p. 18) includes recess before lunch as a recommendation (under ‘Provide adequate and safe spaces and facilities for healthy eating’).
NASPE Resource Brief: Recess

National Association for Sport and Physical Education.
Recess Before Lunch: A Guide for Success

Montana Team Nutrition.
Recess before Lunch in Elementary Schools: Development of a Best Practice Checklist

National Food Service Management Institute.
Barriers to Recess Placement Prior to Lunch in Elementary Schools

National Food Service Management Institute.
Relationships of Meal and Recess Schedules to Plate Waste in Elementary Schools

National Food Service Management Institute.
Recess Before Lunch: Playtime Before Lunchtime! (PDF | 434 KB)

Western Dairy Council; Action for Healthy Kids Washington.
The Benefits of Recess before Lunch: Creating a Healthier Classroom (PDF | 123 KB)

South Dakota Department of Education, Child and Adult Nutrition Services.
Recess Rules: Why the undervalued playtime may be America's best investment for healthy kids and healthy schools

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The State of Play: Gallup Survey of Principals on School Recess

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Increasing Physical Activity Through Recess

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Recess Placement Prior to Lunch in Elementary Schools: What Are the Barriers?

School Nutrition Association, The Journal of Child Nutrition & Management.
Challenges, Benefits and Essential Factors for Success in Implementing a Recess Before Lunch Schedule in Montana Elementary School: 2008 Survey Results (PDF | 40 KB)

Montana Team Nutrition.
Recess before Lunch Programs in Elementary Schools: Perceptions and Practices of School Professionals

School Nutrition Association, The Journal of Child Nutrition & Management.
Benefits of Recess before Lunch Fact Sheet (PDF | 957 KB)

Hamilton County Coordinated School Health Committee, Cincinnati, OH.
Modifying the Recess Before Lunch program: a pilot study in Kaneohe Elementary School (PDF | 99 KB)

Californian Journal of Health Promotion.