The Impact of State Laws and District Policies on Physical Education and Recess Practices in a Nationally-Representative Sample of US Public Elementary Schools

Odds of schools meeting recommendations for PE and recess increased if they were in states or school districts having a law or a policy requiring/encouraging it. State policies are more influential than district policies in regards to recess. Schools with a majority of Caucasian students were more likely than all other racial/ethnic groups to have daily recess. Schools with highest free and reduced lunch eligible populations were less likely to have 20 minutes of recess daily.