ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
A Ban on Smartphone Usage during Recess Increased Children's Physical Activity.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior in children and adolescents during school recess: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Factors associated with juvenile musculoskeletal dysfunction in children.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- Article
- When and where to intervene: identifying key school segments to enhance adolescent physical activity.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Association of digital screen use during recess with physical activity behaviours in 10-year-old to 17-year-old Danish adolescents: a population-based cross-sectional study.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- "Phones off while school's on": Evaluating problematic phone use and the social, wellbeing, and academic effects of banning phones in schools.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
School recess provides a unique opportunity for children to be active. However, many children perceive smartphones as a key barrier for engaging in physical activity during recess. The aim was to investigate if a ban on smartphone usage during recess changed children's physical activity. During August-October 2020, children from grades 4-7 (10-14 years) at six Danish schools were banned from using their smartphones during recess for a four-week period. Questionnaire and systematic observation (SOPLAY) data were collected from 814 children before intervention (baseline) and 828 during the last week of intervention (follow-up). The mean frequency of physical activity significantly increased from baseline to follow-up (odds ratio = 1.370), as did physical activity on a moderate level (odds ratio = 1.387). Vigorous physical activity significantly decreased (odds ratio = 0.851). The increase in physical activity was found among both schools having outdoor and indoor recess, among both boys and girls, and nearly equally among grades 4-7. This suggests that implementing a ban on smartphone usage during recess would improve the everyday conditions for health among a broad range of schoolchildren. Future studies are needed to further investigate the association between recess physical activity and smartphone usage.
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Registered trials
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