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The Utah State Board of Education has provided Best Practice for Recess Guidelines. While not mandated, the guidelines support the Utah State Board of Education’s Strategic Plan Safe and Healthy Schools Goal that every student can learn in a safe and healthy school environment.

Why Recess Matters

Physical Activity and Obesity

The CDC recommends that children get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day. However, in Utah, only 14% of children meet this recommendation. Lack of physical activity can contribute to an unhealthy weight and lead to further health problems. Recess can provide an opportunity for physical activity at school, where students spend a large part of their day. Recess provides the opportunity to take a break from focused classroom work and allows students come back refreshed and ready to learn.

Physical Activity and Academic Achievement

Recess helps get blood moving and improves brain function. Research shows that after 20 minutes of physical activity, students  test better in reading, spelling, and math. Recess helps children focus better and reduces classroom misbehavior.

Physical Activity and Social/Emotional Health

Recess allows children to develop fundamental, lifelong personal skills to help them better thrive in and out of the classroom. Students are better able to problem solve, negotiate, and develop communication skills.

Recess Guidelines

In Utah, 65% of all schools withhold recess for punishment or remediation.  However, among Title 1 schools, that number increases to 72%. The Best Practices for Recess Guidelines can help schools ensure that all their students have an opportunity to participate in recess, which can help them better succeed in school. The guidelines provide a model policy, alternatives to withholding, strategies for indoor recess, and other best practices to ensure that recess can be successful.

Recess Model Policy

Learn more about how you can implement Recess before Lunch.

Do you have a recess success story? We’d love to hear it!

Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to share how recess has helped your school or your child.

Guest Blog Post By, Kate Wheeler, Child Nutrition Specialist, Utah State Board of Education

Kate works on farm to fork and local procurement initiatives. Kate has an MPH from Emory University. Prior to joining the team at USBE, she worked with various food access programs in Oregon, Atlanta, and overseas.

Eating food that is both delicious and nutritious is a key part of a healthy lifestyle, but not all Utahns have equal access to healthy food. 135,000 children in Utah are food insecure, putting them at increased risk of diet-related diseases and stunting their opportunities for learning and growth.

The good news is that this is an exciting time to be working on healthy food access in Utah. Various groups are working on projects that seek to both “feed the need” (provide healthy food options to those who need it now) and “shorten the line” (strengthen our food system to eliminate root causes of hunger).

Start Smart Utah

The Start Smart Utah program is a bill that will provide students with additional access to nutritious food during the school day, including a requirement that all public schools who participate in the national school lunch program also participate in the national school breakfast program. Currently 105 Utah public schools do not participate in the breakfast program—that’s a lot of kids starting their day without a meal. If you’d like to track the progress of this bill in real time, sign up to get updates on HB 222 at le.utah.gov.

Incentivizing Local Food in Schools

Why do schools served canned peaches at lunch when we grow such delicious fresh peaches right here in Utah? Cost is a major factor. Other states have successfully overcome that barrier with incentive programs that reimburse school districts for purchases of local food. Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and Utah State Board of Education are working together to create one of these programs in Utah. We’ve requested $275,000 in appropriations this legislative session to help get it up and running—your help is needed to secure the funding. Click here to find out how you can advocate for this request.

Food Hubs

Food hubs are processing and distribution centers that focus on local food. They make it easier for small farmers to work together to sell their products to large institutions like school districts and hospitals. Utah is currently one of only five states without a food hub—but not for long! Sapa Investment Group is set to break ground on Utah’s first food hub this summer, and UDAF and the City of Salt Lake are working on support for additional food hub projects. Here’s to opening more markets for Utah’s small farmers, and making it easier for all of us to buy healthy local food!

To help in preventing the spread of COVID-19, Utah schools are dismissed for a soft closure until March 27th.

What does this mean for school meals?

On average, 50% of Utah K-12 students participate in school meals daily. Roughly one-third of students qualify for free or reduced meals. These students are at a greater risk to be impacted by school closures.

The good news is that Utah schools will still provide school meals on weekdays during the closure period!

Providing school meals ensures that students have access to a nutritious meal during the day, even though schools are closed. Schools will be taking precautionary measures that allow students to get a healthy meal while maintaining social distance and remaining safe. Meals will be “grab-in-go” meaning students will not be allowed to stay and eat on campus. Many schools will be implementing curbside pick-up. Some schools will have bus stop drops or multiple locations to help avoid crowds.

The Utah State Board of Education has created a map of locations for school meals.

Hover over the dots for details about each site. View MAP

Additional Food Resources:

Utahns Against Hunger

Utah Community Action

United Way 211

Utah Food Bank

Additional COVID-19 Resources:

How to talk to your children about COVID-19

Healthy activities to do at home

Resources for schools and families during COVID-19

How to work from home with kids

Utah Coronavirus

Gyms, recreational facilities, schools, and extracurricular activities are cancelled. While we are all doing our part to stay home and maintain proper social distancing, it is important to be physically active. Physical activity improves muscle and bone strength, reduces risk of chronic disease, helps with healthy body weight, and improves mental health. Physical activity at any level is linked to a lower risk of early death. In times of high stress, physical activity is even more important.

There can be challenges to being physically active. With gyms and recreation centers closed, many people no longer have access to exercise equipment.  Families are trying to figure out how to keep kids active who are at home all day.  People working from home may find it difficult to have the motivation and energy to be active. But, being active does not necessarily mean running on a treadmill or lifting weights. Being active can be done by incorporating physical activity throughout the day such as going for a walk, making games out of chores, and even utilizing technology.

Below find a number of resources to help keep you and your family active!

Physical Activity Resources for Adults 

American College of Sports Medicine: Staying Active During COVID-19
American Heart Association: Create a Circuit Home Workout
CBS News: Exercises While Working From Home
National Council on Aging: Encouraging Older Adults to Stay Active and Safe
National Institute on Aging: Physical Activity
NY Times: Taking Care of Yourself in Coronavirus Quarantine
University of Utah: Healthy AlternativesUS Department of HHS

Physical Activity Resources for Children

Action for Healthy Kids
Active Schools: Resources to Get Kids Moving
Alliance for a Healthier Generation: COVID-19 Resources
American Heart Association: 25 Ways to Get Moving at Home
BOKS Kids
CATCH: Health at Home
Cosmic Kids Yoga
Go Noodle
Playworks; Game Archive
Shape America
Walkabouts

Physical Activity Resources for Families

American Heart Association: How to Move More Anytime Anywhere
American Heart Association: Physical Activity Around the House
Fit Sanford: 5Ways to Incorporate Physical Activity
TrailLink: Find a Trail
USDA: Physical Activity
YMCA 360

For up-to-date Utah information visit:  Coronavirus.utah.gov