Addendum by Dr. Doug

• As a principal, my school had a one-hour lunch break for teachers and students. I would let the students head out for recess as soon as they finished eating, which for some was ten minutes or less. For the most part, I let them negotiate the games they would play. I did ban baseballs and other hard balls, but I made sure that there was a bin of kickballs, foam footballs, etc. for students to use. I also had lots of long and short jump ropes. I made sure the play was well supervised and encouraged the students to move it. Based on what we know, I would advise schools to schedule mid-morning and mid-afternoon exercise breaks if possible for the reasons that Ken points out in this very fine article.

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