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Participation in intra- and extramural sports has flourished over the 
past 40 years; however, school systems need to ensure that equitable 
sports opportunities are available for youth in all types of school set-
tings and at all levels of socioeconomic status.
•
Nonsport after-school programs should include physical activity.
•
Active transport to and from school can be a safe and effective way 
to increase students’ daily physical activity, especially where a large 
proportion of students live close to their school.
•
Each community needs to examine systematically opportunities for 
community-based promotion of physical activity.
•
Inviting students’ families and other community members to par-
ticipate in developing before- and after-school programs, including 
sports and active transport, will increase program sustainability. 

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
Approaches to Physical Activity in Schools
 
261
moderate-intensity physical activity per day (Bassett et al., 2013; see also 
Chapter 5).
Mahar (2011) states that children’s physical activity levels are directly 
related to the opportunities they have to be active. Schools have the poten-
tial to influence the physical activity behaviors of their students through 
various opportunities in addition to physical education (e.g., recess periods, 
classroom physical activity breaks, active transport to and from school; van 
Landeghem, 2003). Furthermore, children are sedentary for much of the 
school day, and emerging evidence suggests that long periods of inactiv-
ity should be avoided. Thus it is essential for the school setting to provide 
opportunities outside of physical education for school-age children to be 
physically activity throughout the school day. 
This chapter reviews the status and trends of sedentary behavior in 
schools and describes opportunities for physical activity in the school envi-
ronment other than physical education, including classroom activity breaks, 
recess, intra- and extramural sports, active transport, and after-school pro-
grams. Also reviewed are policies that may affect these opportunities, as 
well as barriers to and enablers of the opportunities. Chapter 7 examines 
the evidence on the effectiveness of these physical activity opportunities.