physical health and homework

• Second Opinion
• Research & Innovation
• Patients & Families
• Health Professionals
• Recently Visited
• Segunda opinión
• Refer a patient
• MyChart Login

Healthier, Happy Lives Blog

Sort articles by..., sort by category.

• Celebrating Volunteers
• Community Outreach
• Construction Updates
• Family-Centered Care
• Healthy Eating
• Heart Center
• Interesting Things
• Mental Health
• Patient Stories
• Research and Innovation
• Safety Tips
• Sustainability
• World-Class Care

About Our Blog

• Back-to-School
• Pediatric Technology

Latest Posts

• Stanford Children’s Expands Simulation Innovation Center to Enhance Skills, Confidence, and Teamwork
• A Night of Glitz and Glamour for Stanford Children’s Patients
• Practical Tips for Dealing With Bedwetting
• Understanding Culture to Address Mental Health in the AANHPI Community
• Local Gardener Lifts Spirits by Grooming on the Hospital’s Animal Topiaries

Health Hazards of Homework

March 18, 2014 | Julie Greicius Pediatrics .

A new study by the Stanford Graduate School of Education and colleagues found that students in high-performing schools who did excessive hours of homework “experienced greater behavioral engagement in school but also more academic stress, physical health problems, and lack of balance in their lives.”

Those health problems ranged from stress, headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems, to psycho-social effects like dropping activities, not seeing friends or family, and not pursuing hobbies they enjoy.

In the Stanford Report story about the research, Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of the  study published in the  Journal of Experimental Education , says, “Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good.”

The study was based on survey data from a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in California communities in which median household income exceeded $90,000. Of the students surveyed, homework volume averaged about 3.1 hours each night.

“It is time to re-evaluate how the school environment is preparing our high school student for today’s workplace,” says Neville Golden, MD , chief of adolescent medicine at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and a professor at the School of Medicine. “This landmark study shows that excessive homework is counterproductive, leading to sleep deprivation, school stress and other health problems. Parents can best support their children in these demanding academic environments by advocating for them through direct communication with teachers and school administrators about homework load.”

Related Posts

Top-ranked group group in Los Gatos, Calif., is now a part of one of the…

The Stanford Medicine Children’s Health network continues to grow with our newest addition, Town and…

• Julie Greicius
• more by this author...

Connect with us:

Download our App:

ABOUT STANFORD MEDICINE CHILDREN'S HEALTH

• Leadership Team
• Vision, Mission & Values
• The Stanford Advantage
• Government and Community Relations

LUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH

• Get Involved
• Volunteering Services
• Auxiliaries & Affiliates
• Our Hospital
• Send a Greeting Card
• New Hospital
• Refer a Patient
• Pay Your Bill

Also Find Us on:

• Notice of Nondiscrimination
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Code of Conduct
• Price Transparency
• Stanford School of Medicine
• Stanford Health Care
• Stanford University

• Future Students
• Current Students
• Faculty/Staff

News and Media

• News & Media Home
• Research Stories
• School's In
• In the Media

You are here

More than two hours of homework may be counterproductive, research suggests.

A Stanford education researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.   "Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good," wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .   The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students' views on homework.   Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.   Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.   "The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students' advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being," Pope wrote.   Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.   Their study found that too much homework is associated with:   • Greater stress : 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.   • Reductions in health : In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.   • Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits : Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were "not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills," according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.   A balancing act   The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.   Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as "pointless" or "mindless" in order to keep their grades up.   "This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points," said Pope, who is also a co-founder of Challenge Success , a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GSE that conducts research and works with schools and parents to improve students' educational experiences..   Pope said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.   "Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope.   High-performing paradox   In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. "Young people are spending more time alone," they wrote, "which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities."   Student perspectives   The researchers say that while their open-ended or "self-reporting" methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for "typical adolescent complaining" – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.   The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Clifton B. Parker is a writer at the Stanford News Service .

More Stories

⟵ Go to all Research Stories

Get the Educator

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Stanford Graduate School of Education

482 Galvez Mall Stanford, CA 94305-3096 Tel: (650) 723-2109

• Contact Admissions
• GSE Leadership
• Site Feedback
• Web Accessibility
• Career Resources
• Faculty Open Positions
• Explore Courses
• Academic Calendar
• Office of the Registrar
• Cubberley Library
• StanfordWho
• StanfordYou

Improving lives through learning

• Stanford Home
• Maps & Directions
• Search Stanford
• Emergency Info
• Terms of Use
• Non-Discrimination
• Accessibility

© Stanford University , Stanford , California 94305 .

Is homework a necessary evil?

After decades of debate, researchers are still sorting out the truth about homework’s pros and cons. One point they can agree on: Quality assignments matter.

By Kirsten Weir

March 2016, Vol 47, No. 3

Print version: page 36

• Schools and Classrooms

Homework battles have raged for decades. For as long as kids have been whining about doing their homework, parents and education reformers have complained that homework's benefits are dubious. Meanwhile many teachers argue that take-home lessons are key to helping students learn. Now, as schools are shifting to the new (and hotly debated) Common Core curriculum standards, educators, administrators and researchers are turning a fresh eye toward the question of homework's value.

But when it comes to deciphering the research literature on the subject, homework is anything but an open book.

The 10-minute rule

In many ways, homework seems like common sense. Spend more time practicing multiplication or studying Spanish vocabulary and you should get better at math or Spanish. But it may not be that simple.

Homework can indeed produce academic benefits, such as increased understanding and retention of the material, says Duke University social psychologist Harris Cooper, PhD, one of the nation's leading homework researchers. But not all students benefit. In a review of studies published from 1987 to 2003, Cooper and his colleagues found that homework was linked to better test scores in high school and, to a lesser degree, in middle school. Yet they found only faint evidence that homework provided academic benefit in elementary school ( Review of Educational Research , 2006).

Then again, test scores aren't everything. Homework proponents also cite the nonacademic advantages it might confer, such as the development of personal responsibility, good study habits and time-management skills. But as to hard evidence of those benefits, "the jury is still out," says Mollie Galloway, PhD, associate professor of educational leadership at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. "I think there's a focus on assigning homework because [teachers] think it has these positive outcomes for study skills and habits. But we don't know for sure that's the case."

Even when homework is helpful, there can be too much of a good thing. "There is a limit to how much kids can benefit from home study," Cooper says. He agrees with an oft-cited rule of thumb that students should do no more than 10 minutes a night per grade level — from about 10 minutes in first grade up to a maximum of about two hours in high school. Both the National Education Association and National Parent Teacher Association support that limit.

Beyond that point, kids don't absorb much useful information, Cooper says. In fact, too much homework can do more harm than good. Researchers have cited drawbacks, including boredom and burnout toward academic material, less time for family and extracurricular activities, lack of sleep and increased stress.

In a recent study of Spanish students, Rubén Fernández-Alonso, PhD, and colleagues found that students who were regularly assigned math and science homework scored higher on standardized tests. But when kids reported having more than 90 to 100 minutes of homework per day, scores declined ( Journal of Educational Psychology , 2015).

"At all grade levels, doing other things after school can have positive effects," Cooper says. "To the extent that homework denies access to other leisure and community activities, it's not serving the child's best interest."

Children of all ages need down time in order to thrive, says Denise Pope, PhD, a professor of education at Stanford University and a co-founder of Challenge Success, a program that partners with secondary schools to implement policies that improve students' academic engagement and well-being.

"Little kids and big kids need unstructured time for play each day," she says. Certainly, time for physical activity is important for kids' health and well-being. But even time spent on social media can help give busy kids' brains a break, she says.

All over the map

But are teachers sticking to the 10-minute rule? Studies attempting to quantify time spent on homework are all over the map, in part because of wide variations in methodology, Pope says.

A 2014 report by the Brookings Institution examined the question of homework, comparing data from a variety of sources. That report cited findings from a 2012 survey of first-year college students in which 38.4 percent reported spending six hours or more per week on homework during their last year of high school. That was down from 49.5 percent in 1986 ( The Brown Center Report on American Education , 2014).

The Brookings report also explored survey data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which asked 9-, 13- and 17-year-old students how much homework they'd done the previous night. They found that between 1984 and 2012, there was a slight increase in homework for 9-year-olds, but homework amounts for 13- and 17-year-olds stayed roughly the same, or even decreased slightly.

Yet other evidence suggests that some kids might be taking home much more work than they can handle. Robert Pressman, PhD, and colleagues recently investigated the 10-minute rule among more than 1,100 students, and found that elementary-school kids were receiving up to three times as much homework as recommended. As homework load increased, so did family stress, the researchers found ( American Journal of Family Therapy , 2015).

Many high school students also seem to be exceeding the recommended amounts of homework. Pope and Galloway recently surveyed more than 4,300 students from 10 high-achieving high schools. Students reported bringing home an average of just over three hours of homework nightly ( Journal of Experiential Education , 2013).

On the positive side, students who spent more time on homework in that study did report being more behaviorally engaged in school — for instance, giving more effort and paying more attention in class, Galloway says. But they were not more invested in the homework itself. They also reported greater academic stress and less time to balance family, friends and extracurricular activities. They experienced more physical health problems as well, such as headaches, stomach troubles and sleep deprivation. "Three hours per night is too much," Galloway says.

In the high-achieving schools Pope and Galloway studied, more than 90 percent of the students go on to college. There's often intense pressure to succeed academically, from both parents and peers. On top of that, kids in these communities are often overloaded with extracurricular activities, including sports and clubs. "They're very busy," Pope says. "Some kids have up to 40 hours a week — a full-time job's worth — of extracurricular activities." And homework is yet one more commitment on top of all the others.

"Homework has perennially acted as a source of stress for students, so that piece of it is not new," Galloway says. "But especially in upper-middle-class communities, where the focus is on getting ahead, I think the pressure on students has been ratcheted up."

Yet homework can be a problem at the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum as well. Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, Internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs, says Lea Theodore, PhD, a professor of school psychology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. They are less likely to have computers or a quiet place to do homework in peace.

"Homework can highlight those inequities," she says.

Quantity vs. quality

One point researchers agree on is that for all students, homework quality matters. But too many kids are feeling a lack of engagement with their take-home assignments, many experts say. In Pope and Galloway's research, only 20 percent to 30 percent of students said they felt their homework was useful or meaningful.

"Students are assigned a lot of busywork. They're naming it as a primary stressor, but they don't feel it's supporting their learning," Galloway says.

"Homework that's busywork is not good for anyone," Cooper agrees. Still, he says, different subjects call for different kinds of assignments. "Things like vocabulary and spelling are learned through practice. Other kinds of courses require more integration of material and drawing on different skills."

But critics say those skills can be developed with many fewer hours of homework each week. Why assign 50 math problems, Pope asks, when 10 would be just as constructive? One Advanced Placement biology teacher she worked with through Challenge Success experimented with cutting his homework assignments by a third, and then by half. "Test scores didn't go down," she says. "You can have a rigorous course and not have a crazy homework load."

Still, changing the culture of homework won't be easy. Teachers-to-be get little instruction in homework during their training, Pope says. And despite some vocal parents arguing that kids bring home too much homework, many others get nervous if they think their child doesn't have enough. "Teachers feel pressured to give homework because parents expect it to come home," says Galloway. "When it doesn't, there's this idea that the school might not be doing its job."

Galloway argues teachers and school administrators need to set clear goals when it comes to homework — and parents and students should be in on the discussion, too. "It should be a broader conversation within the community, asking what's the purpose of homework? Why are we giving it? Who is it serving? Who is it not serving?"

Until schools and communities agree to take a hard look at those questions, those backpacks full of take-home assignments will probably keep stirring up more feelings than facts.

Further reading

• Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987-2003. Review of Educational Research, 76 (1), 1–62. doi: 10.3102/00346543076001001
• Galloway, M., Connor, J., & Pope, D. (2013). Nonacademic effects of homework in privileged, high-performing high schools. The Journal of Experimental Education, 81 (4), 490–510. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2012.745469
• Pope, D., Brown, M., & Miles, S. (2015). Overloaded and underprepared: Strategies for stronger schools and healthy, successful kids . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Letters to the Editor

• Send us a letter

share this!

August 16, 2021

Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in

by Sara M Moniuszko

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide-range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas over workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework .

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy work loads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold, says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace, says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression.

And for all the distress homework causes, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night.

"Most students, especially at these high-achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school ," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely, but to be more mindful of the type of work students go home with, suggests Kang, who was a high-school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework, I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the last two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic, making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized... sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking assignments up can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

©2021 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Explore further

Feedback to editors

New chip-scale erbium-based laser offers broad wavelength tunability

9 minutes ago

Lung organoids reveal how pathogens infect human lung tissue

How does light interact with matter at extreme intensities, near the Schwinger limit?

How transcription delivers epigenetic silencing

17 minutes ago

New tool developed to improve deadly superbug treatment

20 minutes ago

Star cluster shines in new look from NASA's Chandra

The impact of carbon impurities on the quality of gallium nitride crystals

Entangled neutrinos may lead to heavier element formation

24 minutes ago

Excessive vegetation in Arabia triggered massive butterfly migrations in 2019 across Europe and Africa: Study

28 minutes ago

The discovery of new turbulence transition in fusion plasmas

32 minutes ago

Relevant PhysicsForums posts

Is "college algebra" really just high school "algebra ii", how is physics taught without calculus.

4 hours ago

UK School Physics Exam from 1967

May 27, 2024

Physics education is 60 years out of date

May 16, 2024

Plagiarism & ChatGPT: Is Cheating with AI the New Normal?

May 13, 2024

Physics Instructor Minimum Education to Teach Community College

May 11, 2024

More from STEM Educators and Teaching

Related Stories

Smartphones are lowering student's grades, study finds

Aug 18, 2020

Doing homework is associated with change in students' personality

Oct 6, 2017

Scholar suggests ways to craft more effective homework assignments

Oct 1, 2015

Should parents help their kids with homework?

Aug 29, 2019

How much math, science homework is too much?

Mar 23, 2015

Anxiety, depression, burnout rising as college students prepare to return to campus

Jul 26, 2021

Recommended for you

First-generation medical students face unique challenges and need more targeted support, say researchers

Investigation reveals varied impact of preschool programs on long-term school success

May 2, 2024

Training of brain processes makes reading more efficient

Apr 18, 2024

Researchers find lower grades given to students with surnames that come later in alphabetical order

Apr 17, 2024

Earth, the sun and a bike wheel: Why your high-school textbook was wrong about the shape of Earth's orbit

Apr 8, 2024

Touchibo, a robot that fosters inclusion in education through touch

Apr 5, 2024

Let us know if there is a problem with our content

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter

Opinion | Social-Emotional Learning

If we’re serious about student well-being, we must change the systems students learn in, here are five steps high schools can take to support students' mental health., by tim klein and belle liang     oct 14, 2022.

Shutterstock / SvetaZi

This article is part of the guide: Making Sense of K-12 Student Mental Health.

Educators and parents started this school year with bated breath. Last year’s stress led to record levels of teacher burnout and mental health challenges for students.

Even before the pandemic, a mental health crisis among high schoolers loomed. According to a survey administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019, 37 percent of high school students said they experienced persistent sadness or hopelessness and 19 percent reported suicidality. In response, more than half of all U.S. states mandated that schools have a mental health curriculum or include mental health in their standards .

As mental health professionals and co-authors of a book about the pressure and stress facing high school students, we’ve spent our entire careers supporting students’ mental health. Traditionally, mental health interventions are individualized and they focus on helping students manage and change their behaviors to cope with challenges they’re facing. But while working with schools and colleges across the globe as we conducted research for our book , we realized that most interventions don’t address systemic issues causing mental health problems in the first place.

It’s time we acknowledge that our education systems are directly contributing to the youth mental health crisis. And if we are serious about student well-being, we must change the systems they learn in.

Here are five bold steps that high schools can take to boost mental health.

Limit Homework or Make it Optional

Imagine applying for a job, and the hiring manager informs you that in addition to a full workday in the office, you’ll be assigned three more hours of work every night. Does this sound like a healthy work-life balance? Most adults would consider this expectation ridiculous and unsustainable. Yet, this is the workload most schools place on high school students.

Research shows that excessive homework leads to increased stress, physical health problems and a lack of balance in students' lives. And studies have shown that more than two hours of daily homework can be counterproductive , yet many teachers assign more.

Homework proponents argue that homework improves academic performance. Indeed, a meta-analysis of research on this issue found a correlation between homework and achievement. But correlation isn’t causation. Does homework cause achievement or do high achievers do more homework? While it’s likely that homework completion signals student engagement, which in turn leads to academic achievement, there’s little evidence to suggest that homework itself improves engagement in learning.

Another common argument is that homework helps students develop skills related to problem-solving, time-management and self-direction. But these skills can be explicitly taught during the school day rather than after school.

Limiting homework or moving to an optional homework policy not only supports student well-being, but it can also create a more equitable learning environment. According to the American Psychological Association, students from more affluent families are more likely to have access to resources such as devices, internet, dedicated work space and the support necessary to complete their work successfully—and homework can highlight those inequities .

Whether a school limits homework or makes it optional, it’s critical to remember that more important than the amount of homework assigned, is designing the type of activities that engage students in learning. When students are intrinsically motivated to do their homework, they are more engaged in the work, which in turn is associated with academic achievement.

Cap the Number of APs Students Can Take

Advanced Placement courses give students a taste of college-level work and, in theory, allow them to earn college credits early. Getting good grades on AP exams is associated with higher GPAs in high school and success in college, but the research tends to be correlational rather than causational.

In 2008, a little over 180,000 students took three or more AP exams. By 2018, that number had ballooned to almost 350,000 students .

However, this expansion has come at the expense of student well-being.

Over the years, we’ve heard many students express that they feel pressure to take as many AP classes as possible, which overloads them with work. That’s troubling because studies show that students who take AP classes and exams are twice as likely to report adverse physical and emotional health .

AP courses and exams also raise complex issues of equity. In 2019, two out of three Harvard freshmen reported taking AP Calculus in high school, according to Jeff Selingo, author of “ Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions ,” yet only half of all high schools in the country offer the course. And opportunity gaps exist for advanced coursework such as AP courses and dual enrollment, with inequitable distribution of funding and support impacting which students are enrolling and experiencing success. According to the Center for American Progress, “National data from the Civil Rights Data Collection show that students who are Black, Indigenous, and other non-Black people of color (BIPOC) are not enrolled in AP courses at rates comparable to their white and Asian peers and experience less success when they are—and the analysis for this report finds this to be true even when they attend schools with similar levels of AP course availability.”

Limiting the number of AP courses students take can protect mental health and create a more equitable experience for students.

Eliminate Class Rankings

In a study we conducted about mental health problems among high school girls, we found that a primary driver of stress was their perception of school as a hypercompetitive, zero-sum game where pervasive peer pressure to perform reigns supreme.

Class rankings fuel these cutthroat environments. They send a toxic message to young people: success requires doing better than your peers.

Ranking systems help highly selective colleges decide which students to admit or reject for admission. The purpose of high school is to develop students to their own full potential, rather than causing them to fixate on measuring up to others. Research shows that ranking systems undercut students’ learning and damage social relationships by turning peers into opponents.

Eliminating class rankings sends a powerful message to students that they are more than a number.

Become an Admission Test Objector

COVID-19 ushered in the era of test-optional admissions. De-centering standardized tests in the college application process is unequivocally a good thing. Standardized tests don’t predict student success in college , they only widen the achievement gap between privileged and underprivileged students and damage students' mental health .

Going “test optional” is an excellent first step, but it's not enough.

Even as more colleges have made tests optional, affluent students submit test scores at a higher rate than their lower-income peers and are admitted at higher rates , suggesting that testing still gives them an edge.

High schools must adhere to standardized test mandates, but they don’t have to endorse them. They can become test objectors by publicly proclaiming that these tests hold no inherent value. They can stop teaching to the test and educate parents on why they are doing so. Counseling departments can inform colleges that their school is a test objector so admission teams won’t penalize students.

Of course, students and families will still find ways to wield these tests as a competitive advantage. Over time, the more schools and educators unite to denounce these tests, the less power they will hold over students and families.

Big change starts with small steps.

Stand For What You Value

Critics may argue that such policies might hurt student outcomes. How will colleges evaluate school rigor if we limit AP courses and homework? How will students demonstrate their merits without class rankings and standardized test scores?

The truth is, the best school systems in the world succeed without homework, standardized test scores or an obsession with rigorous courses. And many U.S. schools have found creative and empowering ways to showcase student merit beyond rankings and test scores.

If we aren’t willing to change policies and practices that have been shown to harm students’ well-being, we have to ask ourselves: Do we really value mental health?

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be an either/or scenario: We can design school systems that help students thrive academically and psychologically.

Belle Liang and Tim Klein are mental health professionals and co-authors of “How To Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career and Life.”

Making Sense of K-12 Student Mental Health

Tackling the Youth Mental Health Crisis Head-On

By aaliyah a. samuel.

Adolescents Need More Proactive, Preventative Mental Health Supports in School

By sara potler lahayne.

Coronavirus

Kids’ mental health is in crisis. schools can get them help through a $1 billion fund, by nadia tamez-robledo.

When Student Anxiety Gets in the Way of Attending School

By daniel mollenkamp, more from edsurge.

When Teaching Students Math, Concepts Matter More Than Process

By nicola hodkowski.

Microchip Companies Create Child Care Programs to Win Federal Funds

By jessica kutz, the 19th.

English Learner Scores Have Been Stuck for Two Decades. What Will It Take to Change?

Teaching and Learning

Teachers are introducing young learners to climate consciousness. hope is key, they say., by emily tate sullivan.

Journalism that ignites your curiosity about education.

EdSurge is an editorially independent project of and

• Product Index
• Write for us
• Advertising

FOLLOW EDSURGE

© 2024 All Rights Reserved

Homework could have an impact on kids’ health. Should schools ban it?

Professor of Education, Penn State

Disclosure statement

Gerald K. LeTendre has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.

Penn State provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US.

View all partners

Reformers in the Progressive Era (from the 1890s to 1920s) depicted homework as a “sin” that deprived children of their playtime . Many critics voice similar concerns today.

Yet there are many parents who feel that from early on, children need to do homework if they are to succeed in an increasingly competitive academic culture. School administrators and policy makers have also weighed in, proposing various policies on homework .

So, does homework help or hinder kids?

For the last 10 years, my colleagues and I have been investigating international patterns in homework using databases like the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) . If we step back from the heated debates about homework and look at how homework is used around the world, we find the highest homework loads are associated with countries that have lower incomes and higher social inequality.

Does homework result in academic success?

Let’s first look at the global trends on homework.

Undoubtedly, homework is a global phenomenon ; students from all 59 countries that participated in the 2007 Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS) reported getting homework. Worldwide, only less than 7% of fourth graders said they did no homework.

TIMSS is one of the few data sets that allow us to compare many nations on how much homework is given (and done). And the data show extreme variation.

For example, in some nations, like Algeria, Kuwait and Morocco, more than one in five fourth graders reported high levels of homework. In Japan, less than 3% of students indicated they did more than four hours of homework on a normal school night.

TIMSS data can also help to dispel some common stereotypes. For instance, in East Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan – countries that had the top rankings on TIMSS average math achievement – reported rates of heavy homework that were below the international mean.

In the Netherlands, nearly one out of five fourth graders reported doing no homework on an average school night, even though Dutch fourth graders put their country in the top 10 in terms of average math scores in 2007.

Going by TIMSS data, the US is neither “ A Nation at Rest” as some have claimed, nor a nation straining under excessive homework load . Fourth and eighth grade US students fall in the middle of the 59 countries in the TIMSS data set, although only 12% of US fourth graders reported high math homework loads compared to an international average of 21%.

So, is homework related to high academic success?

At a national level, the answer is clearly no. Worldwide, homework is not associated with high national levels of academic achievement .

But, the TIMSS can’t be used to determine if homework is actually helping or hurting academic performance overall , it can help us see how much homework students are doing, and what conditions are associated with higher national levels of homework.

We have typically found that the highest homework loads are associated with countries that have lower incomes and higher levels of social inequality – not hallmarks that most countries would want to emulate.

Impact of homework on kids

TIMSS data also show us how even elementary school kids are being burdened with large amounts of homework.

Almost 10% of fourth graders worldwide (one in 10 children) reported spending multiple hours on homework each night. Globally, one in five fourth graders report 30 minutes or more of homework in math three to four times a week.

These reports of large homework loads should worry parents, teachers and policymakers alike.

Empirical studies have linked excessive homework to sleep disruption , indicating a negative relationship between the amount of homework, perceived stress and physical health.

What constitutes excessive amounts of homework varies by age, and may also be affected by cultural or family expectations. Young adolescents in middle school, or teenagers in high school, can study for longer duration than elementary school children.

But for elementary school students, even 30 minutes of homework a night, if combined with other sources of academic stress, can have a negative impact . Researchers in China have linked homework of two or more hours per night with sleep disruption .

Even though some cultures may normalize long periods of studying for elementary age children, there is no evidence to support that this level of homework has clear academic benefits . Also, when parents and children conflict over homework, and strong negative emotions are created, homework can actually have a negative association with academic achievement.

Should there be “no homework” policies?

Administrators and policymakers have not been reluctant to wade into the debates on homework and to formulate policies . France’s president, Francois Hollande, even proposed that homework be banned because it may have inegaliatarian effects.

However, “zero-tolerance” homework policies for schools, or nations, are likely to create as many problems as they solve because of the wide variation of homework effects. Contrary to what Hollande said, research suggests that homework is not a likely source of social class differences in academic achievement .

Homework, in fact, is an important component of education for students in the middle and upper grades of schooling.

Policymakers and researchers should look more closely at the connection between poverty, inequality and higher levels of homework. Rather than seeing homework as a “solution,” policymakers should question what facets of their educational system might impel students, teachers and parents to increase homework loads.

At the classroom level, in setting homework, teachers need to communicate with their peers and with parents to assure that the homework assigned overall for a grade is not burdensome, and that it is indeed having a positive effect.

Perhaps, teachers can opt for a more individualized approach to homework. If teachers are careful in selecting their assignments – weighing the student’s age, family situation and need for skill development – then homework can be tailored in ways that improve the chance of maximum positive impact for any given student.

I strongly suspect that when teachers face conditions such as pressure to meet arbitrary achievement goals, lack of planning time or little autonomy over curriculum, homework becomes an easy option to make up what could not be covered in class.

Whatever the reason, the fact is a significant percentage of elementary school children around the world are struggling with large homework loads. That alone could have long-term negative consequences for their academic success.

• Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
• Elementary school
• Academic success

Head of School, School of Arts & Social Sciences, Monash University Malaysia

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Clinical Teaching Fellow

Data Manager

Director, Social Policy

Along with Stanford news and stories, show me:

• Student information
• Faculty/Staff information

We want to provide announcements, events, leadership messages and resources that are relevant to you. Your selection is stored in a browser cookie which you can remove at any time using “Clear all personalization” below.

Stanford educator Denise Pope finds that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to evaluating homework assignments for K-12 students. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

The quality of a homework assignment is important to student achievement, a Stanford scholar says.

But the devil is in the details, according to Denise Pope , senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, who recently published a book on the subject.

“The quality of the homework assignment and whether or not students find it meaningful can have a significant impact on student achievement, homework completion, motivation and physical health, Pope said in a recent interview.

She suggests that teachers think about the purpose of each assignment and she offers professional development and tools on how to create assignments that are relevant and engaging for the student – or “doable,” as she puts it – without the help of others. 

For example, Pope urges teachers to ensure homework directions are clear and then set aside time in class for students to start the work. 

“This way, the teacher can answer questions early on – before the child gets home and realizes he doesn’t understand the assignment,” she said.

She also recommends that teachers aim for “authentic assignments” that can’t necessarily be done efficiently in the classroom. This might include reading a chapter from a book to prepare for the class discussion the next day, or interviewing a community member for a school project, or collecting real data, such as water samples from a local source for a science lab. 

Finally, while it may be difficult and time-consuming, Pope suggests teachers “differentiate homework” assignments when possible. 

“A kid who can zip through 30 math problems in 10 minutes isn’t necessarily benefitting from that assignment, but neither is the kid who takes 30 minutes to figure out the first two problems, and is so frustrated and exhausted that he never completes the rest of the set,” she said.

Too much homework?

How much homework is too much? The answer to this question depends, Pope said, on which students and measurements are used. 

For instance, some studies show that time spent on homework for elementary school students has increased slightly since the 1980s and decreased for older students, she said. 

Other studies, she noted, show the opposite – that high school students are doing more homework than ever before and that elementary homework has declined. Also, recent studies show that some elementary students are doing three times the amount recommended by the National Education Association.

Pope, the co-founder of Challenge Success , said that research from that group found that high school students from high-achieving schools average more than three hours of homework each night, and middle school students average about 2.5 hours.

“How much is too much? Again, this depends. We have found that homework can be a source of stress for students and for parents,” she said.

While students doing more hours of homework in the Challenge Success research seemed to be more engaged in school, they also suffered from physical health problems, sleep deprivation and a lack of balance in their lives, she said.

“When homework is a source of stress or causes battles at home, it can actually impede student motivation and learning,” Pope said.  

Measuring the impact of homework can be difficult.

“When researchers use grades to indicate the impact of homework, they may not account for the fact that homework completion often counts as part of the student’s overall grade in the course,” Pope said.

And, when research uses standardized tests to measure homework’s impact, she continued, it is difficult to gauge how much of the overall improvement or decline in test scores is due to student learning in the classroom context as opposed to student learning from homework.  

Finally, homework, because it is done at home, does not allow teachers to determine who is really doing the work. “Is it the student alone,” Pope asked, “or are others, such as parents, tutors or friends, weighing in or doing the work for the child?”

Parents, communities and homework

When homework becomes a battle at home, both the child and the parent suffer, Pope said. She advises parents of younger students to let the teacher know if their children are spending more than the expected time to complete an assignment. Parents of older students should help their kids learn to communicate directly with the teacher about homework issues.

“Parents also have to provide enough time in the day for the student to get homework done,” Pope said. 

This involves monitoring how many extracurricular activities a child has so as to find a healthy balance among homework, sleep, socializing and other duties.

Parents do not need to be homework “police” or nighttime teacher, she suggested. 

“When well-meaning parents correct homework assignments, or edit papers, or swoop in to rescue a child at the last minute on a project, they may be denying the child the opportunity to develop important academic skills as well as social and emotional skills such as self-regulation and resilience,” Pope said.

And, they may be preventing the teacher from gauging the student’s understanding of the subject matter, she added.

Similarly, parents who assign “extra” homework via workbooks or enrichment classes may be interfering with the course curriculum. 

But if parents are worried that their child doesn’t have enough schoolwork to do after school, they should encourage reading for pleasure – especially since that has been clearly shown to correlate with academic achievement, according to Pope.

Media Contacts

Denise Pope, Education: (650) 725-7412, [email protected] Clifton B. Parker, Stanford News Service: (650) 725-0224, [email protected]

Does Homework Serve a Purpose?

Finding the right balance between schoolwork and home life..

Posted November 5, 2018 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

Homework — a dreaded word that means more work and less play. The mere thought of doing additional work after a seven-hour day (that begins extremely early) can be gruesome. Not to mention, many teens have other commitments after the school day ends.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 57 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 17 years old participate in at least one after-school extracurricular activity. And that’s a good thing because youth extracurricular involvement comes with benefits such as boosting academic performance, reducing risky behaviors (i.e., drug use and drinking), promoting physical health, and providing a safe structured environment. However, tag these extracurricular activities onto the end of a school day and you’ll find that many teens don’t get home until it's dark outside.

What about the teen who works a 15- to 20-hour job on top of an extracurricular activity? The US Department of Labor reports that one in five high school students have a part-time job, and those jobs too can come with added benefits. Teens who work often learn the value of a hard-earned dollar. They learn how to manage their money, learn to problem solve, and most importantly, they learn how to work with people. Plus, a job in high school is a great way to add valuable experience to a resume.

With so many after school opportunities available for teens, it can be extremely difficult for them to balance homework with their other commitments. Oftentimes, active kids simply don’t have enough time in a day to get all that’s asked of them finished. When it comes homework, in all my years of working in the public school system, I have never seen a student jump for joy when homework was assigned. Of course, there are some who were anxious to complete the assignment, but that was more to get it off their busy plate. Which brings us to the essential question — does homework serve a purpose?

There are those who stand firm and back the claim that homework does serve a purpose . They often cite that homework helps prepare students for standardized tests, that it helps supplement and reinforce what’s being taught in class, and that it helps teach fundamental skills such as time management , organization, task completion, as well as responsibility (extracurricular activities and work experience can also teach those fundamental skills).

Another argument for homework is that having students complete work independently shows that they can demonstrate mastery of the material without the assistance of a teacher. Additionally, there have been numerous studies supporting homework, like a recent study that shows using online systems to assign math homework has been linked to a statistically significant boost in test scores. So, there you have it: Homework has a lot of perks and one of those involves higher test scores, particularly in math. But don’t form your opinion just yet.

Although many people rally for and support homework, there is another school of thought that homework should be decreased, or better yet, abolished. Those who join this group often cite studies linking academic stress to health risks. For example, one study in the Journal of Educational Psychology showed that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline.

The Journal of Experimental Education published research indicating that when high school students were assigned too much homework, they were more susceptible to serious mental and physical health problems, high-stress levels, and sleep deprivation. Stanford University also did a study that showed more than a couple of hours of homework a night was counterproductive. Think about it — teens spend an entire day at school, followed by extracurricular activities and possibly work, and then they get to end their day with two to three hours of homework. Now that’s a long day! No wonder so many of our teens are sleep-deprived and addicted to caffeine? On average most teens only get about 7.4 hours of sleep per night but according to the American Academy of Pediatrics , they need 8 to 10 hours.

Regardless of where you stand on the homework debate, a few things are certain: If homework is given, it should be a tool that’s used to enhance learning. Also, teachers should take into account the financial requirements of assignments, electronic accessibility, and they should be familiar with student needs as well as their other commitments. For example, not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework, so incomplete work may not be a true reflection of their ability—it may be the result of other issues they face outside of school.

Many of today's teens are taking college-level courses as early as the ninth and tenth grades. With the push of programs such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Early College Programs, and Dual Enrollment, today’s teens are carrying academic loads that surpass past generations. The result of this push for rigor can lead to high levels of stress, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, depression , anxiety , and early burnout . Too many teens are already running on empty. With more than half of teens reporting school and homework as a primary source of their stress, it’s evident that academic pressure is becoming a burden.

On the flip side, not all students spend a lot of time doing homework. What takes one student an hour to complete may take another three hours. Too often educators don’t take this into account when assigning homework. According to the University of Phoenix College of Education teacher survey, high school students can get assigned up to 17.5 hours of homework each week. To top it off, a Today article reported that teachers often underestimate the amount of homework they assign by as much as 50%. Now that’s a huge miscalculation, and our nation's youth have to suffer the consequences of those errors.

There are definitely pros and cons to doing homework. I think the bigger question that educators need to address is, “what’s the purpose of the assignment?” Is it merely a way to show parents and administration what's going on in the class? Is it a means to help keep students' grades afloat by giving a grade for completion or is the assignment being graded for accuracy? Does the assignment enhance and supplement the learning experience? Furthermore, is it meaningful or busywork?

The homework debate will likely continue until we take a good, hard look at our current policies and practices. What side of the line do you stand on when it comes to homework? Perhaps you’re somewhere in the middle?

Please weigh in with your thoughts. I am always eager to hear students’ voices in this discussion. If you are a student, please share what’s on your plate and how much time you spend doing homework each night.

Challenge Success White Paper: http://www.challengesuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ChallengeSuc…

Cooper, H., et al. (meta analysis): https://www.jstor.org/stable/3700582?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Marzano, R., et al.: http://www.marzanocenter.com/2013/01/17/have-you-done-your-homework-on-…

NEA (National Education Association): http://www.nea.org/tools/16938.htm

Pope, Brown, and Miles (2015), Overloaded and Underprepared. (Brief synopsis here: https://www.learningandthebrain.com/blog/overloaded-and-underprepared-s… )

Raychelle Cassada Lohman n , M.S., LPC, is the author of The Anger Workbook for Teens .

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

Request More Info

Fill out the form below and a member of our team will reach out right away!

" * " indicates required fields

Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students

The Problem with Homework: It Highlights Inequalities

How much homework is too much homework, when does homework actually help, negative effects of homework for students, how teachers can help.

Schools are getting rid of homework from Essex, Mass., to Los Angeles, Calif. Although the no-homework trend may sound alarming, especially to parents dreaming of their child’s acceptance to Harvard, Stanford or Yale, there is mounting evidence that eliminating homework in grade school may actually have great benefits , especially with regard to educational equity.

In fact, while the push to eliminate homework may come as a surprise to many adults, the debate is not new . Parents and educators have been talking about this subject for the last century, so that the educational pendulum continues to swing back and forth between the need for homework and the need to eliminate homework.

One of the most pressing talking points around homework is how it disproportionately affects students from less affluent families. The American Psychological Association (APA) explained:

“Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”

[RELATED] How to Advance Your Career: A Guide for Educators >> 

While students growing up in more affluent areas are likely playing sports, participating in other recreational activities after school, or receiving additional tutoring, children in disadvantaged areas are more likely headed to work after school, taking care of siblings while their parents work or dealing with an unstable home life. Adding homework into the mix is one more thing to deal with — and if the student is struggling, the task of completing homework can be too much to consider at the end of an already long school day.

While all students may groan at the mention of homework, it may be more than just a nuisance for poor and disadvantaged children, instead becoming another burden to carry and contend with.

Beyond the logistical issues, homework can negatively impact physical health and stress — and once again this may be a more significant problem among economically disadvantaged youth who typically already have a higher stress level than peers from more financially stable families .

Yet, today, it is not just the disadvantaged who suffer from the stressors that homework inflicts. A 2014 CNN article, “Is Homework Making Your Child Sick?” , covered the issue of extreme pressure placed on children of the affluent. The article looked at the results of a study surveying more than 4,300 students from 10 high-performing public and private high schools in upper-middle-class California communities.

“Their findings were troubling: Research showed that excessive homework is associated with high stress levels, physical health problems and lack of balance in children’s lives; 56% of the students in the study cited homework as a primary stressor in their lives,” according to the CNN story. “That children growing up in poverty are at-risk for a number of ailments is both intuitive and well-supported by research. More difficult to believe is the growing consensus that children on the other end of the spectrum, children raised in affluence, may also be at risk.”

When it comes to health and stress it is clear that excessive homework, for children at both ends of the spectrum, can be damaging. Which begs the question, how much homework is too much?

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association recommend that students spend 10 minutes per grade level per night on homework . That means that first graders should spend 10 minutes on homework, second graders 20 minutes and so on. But a study published by The American Journal of Family Therapy found that students are getting much more than that.

While 10 minutes per day doesn’t sound like much, that quickly adds up to an hour per night by sixth grade. The National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students get an average of 6.8 hours of homework per week, a figure that is much too high according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is also to be noted that this figure does not take into consideration the needs of underprivileged student populations.

In a study conducted by the OECD it was found that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on performance .” That means that by asking our children to put in an hour or more per day of dedicated homework time, we are not only not helping them, but — according to the aforementioned studies — we are hurting them, both physically and emotionally.

What’s more is that homework is, as the name implies, to be completed at home, after a full day of learning that is typically six to seven hours long with breaks and lunch included. However, a study by the APA on how people develop expertise found that elite musicians, scientists and athletes do their most productive work for about only four hours per day. Similarly, companies like Tower Paddle Boards are experimenting with a five-hour workday, under the assumption that people are not able to be truly productive for much longer than that. CEO Stephan Aarstol told CNBC that he believes most Americans only get about two to three hours of work done in an eight-hour day.

In the scope of world history, homework is a fairly new construct in the U.S. Students of all ages have been receiving work to complete at home for centuries, but it was educational reformer Horace Mann who first brought the concept to America from Prussia. 

Since then, homework’s popularity has ebbed and flowed in the court of public opinion. In the 1930s, it was considered child labor (as, ironically, it compromised children’s ability to do chores at home). Then, in the 1950s, implementing mandatory homework was hailed as a way to ensure America’s youth were always one step ahead of Soviet children during the Cold War. Homework was formally mandated as a tool for boosting educational quality in 1986 by the U.S. Department of Education, and has remained in common practice ever since.  

School work assigned and completed outside of school hours is not without its benefits. Numerous studies have shown that regular homework has a hand in improving student performance and connecting students to their learning. When reviewing these studies, take them with a grain of salt; there are strong arguments for both sides, and only you will know which solution is best for your students or school. 

Homework improves student achievement.

• Source: The High School Journal, “ When is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math ,” 2012. 
• Source: IZA.org, “ Does High School Homework Increase Academic Achievement? ,” 2014. **Note: Study sample comprised only high school boys. 

Homework helps reinforce classroom learning.

• Source: “ Debunk This: People Remember 10 Percent of What They Read ,” 2015.

Homework helps students develop good study habits and life skills.

• Sources: The Repository @ St. Cloud State, “ Types of Homework and Their Effect on Student Achievement ,” 2017; Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.
• Source: Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.

Homework allows parents to be involved with their children’s learning.

• Parents can see what their children are learning and working on in school every day. 
• Parents can participate in their children’s learning by guiding them through homework assignments and reinforcing positive study and research habits.
• Homework observation and participation can help parents understand their children’s academic strengths and weaknesses, and even identify possible learning difficulties.
• Source: Phys.org, “ Sociologist Upends Notions about Parental Help with Homework ,” 2018.

While some amount of homework may help students connect to their learning and enhance their in-class performance, too much homework can have damaging effects. 

Students with too much homework have elevated stress levels. 

• Source: USA Today, “ Is It Time to Get Rid of Homework? Mental Health Experts Weigh In ,” 2021.
• Source: Stanford University, “ Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework ,” 2014.

Students with too much homework may be tempted to cheat. 

• Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, “ High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame ,” 2010.
• Source: The American Journal of Family Therapy, “ Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents’ Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background ,” 2015.

Homework highlights digital inequity. 

• Sources: NEAToday.org, “ The Homework Gap: The ‘Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide’ ,” 2016; CNET.com, “ The Digital Divide Has Left Millions of School Kids Behind ,” 2021.
• Source: Investopedia, “ Digital Divide ,” 2022; International Journal of Education and Social Science, “ Getting the Homework Done: Social Class and Parents’ Relationship to Homework ,” 2015.
• Source: World Economic Forum, “ COVID-19 exposed the digital divide. Here’s how we can close it ,” 2021.

Homework does not help younger students.

• Source: Review of Educational Research, “ Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Researcher, 1987-2003 ,” 2006.

To help students find the right balance and succeed, teachers and educators must start the homework conversation, both internally at their school and with parents. But in order to successfully advocate on behalf of students, teachers must be well educated on the subject, fully understanding the research and the outcomes that can be achieved by eliminating or reducing the homework burden. There is a plethora of research and writing on the subject for those interested in self-study.

For teachers looking for a more in-depth approach or for educators with a keen interest in educational equity, formal education may be the best route. If this latter option sounds appealing, there are now many reputable schools offering online master of education degree programs to help educators balance the demands of work and family life while furthering their education in the quest to help others.

YOU’RE INVITED! Watch Free Webinar on USD’s Online MEd Program >>

Be Sure To Share This Article

• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn

Top 11 Reasons to get Your Master of Education Degree

Free 22-page Book

• Master of Education

Related Posts

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Wiley Open Access Collection

Excessive homework, inadequate sleep, physical inactivity and screen viewing time are major contributors to high paediatric obesity

1 School of Sport Sciences, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China

Zhixiong Zhou

2 School of Physical Education and Coaching Science, Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, Beijing, China

Wenxi (Kevin) Liu

3 Department of Kinesiology, Health, and Nutrition, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

Xiujiang Wang

4 Children's Center of China, Beijing, China

Associated Data

Table S2 . Means (M), standard deviations ( SD ) of afterschool EBRB s by grade level.

This study examined the relationships between energy balance‐related behaviours (EBRBs) outside school hours and obesity in Chinese primary school students. We also explored the influence of gender on those relationships.

The study sample was a cross‐sectional cohort of 5032 Chinese children who were enrolled in grades 1–6 in primary schools in five Chinese cities and whose mean ages ranged from seven years and three months to 11.9 years. The children's parents completed a survey on their child's height, weight and EBRBs outside school hours.

The response rate was 97%, and the reported rates of overweight and obesity were 13.6% and 13.8%, respectively. The obesity rates were higher in boys and lower grade children. Most EBRBs varied between boys and girls and with increased grade levels. The amount of time spent on academic‐related activities, screen viewing, outdoor activities and sleep was mostly associated with obesity on weekdays and varied by gender.

Rate of obesity was alarmingly high in the primary school Chinese children in this cohort, especially in younger children. Excessive time spent on academic‐related activities outside school hours, inadequate sleep, physical inactivity and higher levels of screen viewing were major contributors to obesity in these Chinese children.

Abbreviations

• This study examined the relationships between energy balance‐related behaviours outside school hours and obesity in Chinese primary school students.
• Rates of obesity were alarmingly high in the children in this cohort, especially in younger children, with some notable age and gender differences.
• Excessive time spent on academic‐related activities outside school hours, inadequate sleep, physical inactivity and higher levels of screen viewing were major contributors to obesity levels.

Introduction

Childhood obesity has been rising rapidly in China, following the trends in developed countries 1 , and the increase is more dramatic in large urban regions 1 , 2 . According to the Chinese National Surveys on Students Constitution and Health, the prevalence of obesity in children aged 7–19 increased from 0.2% in 1985 to 8.1% in 2010. The Survey reported that obesity levels were highest among children aged seven to nine years, at 15.7% for boys and 8% for girls, and lowest in the 16–18 age group, at 6.8% for boys and 2.25% for girls 2 . While this increase has far exceeded those found in American and European children, the gender differences and high prevalence among the youngest children are particularly alarming and indicate a secular trend that could have serious health and economic implications for China in the near future 2 .

Energy balance‐related behaviours (EBRBs) refer to behaviours that influence energy intake and expenditure 3 , and the essence of obesity is dysregulation of EBRBs, leading to a positive energy balance. The links between obesity and EBRBs have been observed in preschool and primary school children 4 . Because activities at school are highly regulated and focused on academic pursuits, the study of EBRBs outside school hours – before and after school and during weekends and school holidays – provides additional insights for combating childhood obesity. Participation in outdoor activities, especially moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA) has been positively associated with lower body mass index (BMI), while increases in sedentary activities, such as sitting for lengthy periods of time, watching TV and playing computer games, have been associated with higher BMIs in children 4 , 5 . Epidemiological studies have also showed a close association between sleep deficiency and increases in childhood obesity 5 . However, it is not clear whether time spent on homework and other academic remedial activities outside school hours is associated with obesity in children.

From a young age, Chinese children are exposed to a fiery competitive system to prepare them for admission to universities 6 . Children start school in China at the age of 6 or 7, and primary school students are expected to spend at least three hours a day on academic‐related work, which includes homework assignments from their teachers and additional academic remedial and enrichment activities offered by external providers. This is in addition to a long school day that lasts eight to nine hours. These extra activities are paid tutoring programmes that enhance the children's academic achievement and aptitude. Little is known about the health effects of dedicating such a large amount of time to academic‐related studies on obesity in children of this age group 3 . An emerging body of research has related obesity with physical activity, sedentary behaviour and diet in Chinese children, similar to those conducted in developed countries 7 , 8 . However, a few studies have examined the effects of EBRBs outside school hours on obesity by age and gender in Chinese children.

This study reports the findings of a multicity parent survey on children's engagement in a broad range of EBRBs outside school hours in Chinese primary school students. The aims of this study were to examine the rate of obesity, the levels and patterns of EBRBs outside school hours and the relationships between engaging in EBRBs and obesity in a large sample of Chinese primary school students. Understanding children's activities outside school hours can facilitate a balanced development that promotes children's health and well‐being.

Study sample and data collection procedure

The study was conducted from March 1 to March 15, 2012 and included primary school students in five large metropolitan cities in five geographical regions of China: Beijing in Northern China, Guangzhou in Southern China, Hefei in Central China, Shanghai in Eastern Costal China and Xi'an in Western China. Four to five schools were selected from various areas of the city that were representative of the schools in the city. In each school, one classroom was randomly chosen from each of the six class grade levels to participate in the study. The parents of 5517 students were invited to complete a survey, and 5339 surveys were returned, providing a 97% response rate. Students who participated in sport teams or clubs were not asked not to complete the survey. The parents were informed that they could opt out of the study without any repercussions, and no financial incentive was provided for participating in the survey. The response rates were similar for all class grade levels and cities. After excluding the surveys with incomplete data on gender, age, grade, height and weight, 5032 students – 91% of the initial sample – were included in the data analysis. The study protocol was approved by the Research Review Committee of Beijing Sport University.

Parents were asked to complete a survey on their children's participation in five categories of leisure and nonleisure activities outside school hours on weekdays and at weekends, including three of the most common outdoor activities in children 9 . Parents talked to their children and estimated the number of hours that they spent on outdoor activities, homework assignments screen viewing – covering television and playing games on computers – remedial academic work to supplement and enrich their academic activities and sleep outside school hours on weekdays and at weekends. The students were not permitted to complete the surveys by themselves regardless of their ages. Parents were asked to report their child's current height and weight based on results from their most recent clinic visit or latest physical examination. Information was also requested on the students’ age, gender, grade levels, average school grades – with A being the best grade and F the lowest – for all subject areas (excluding physical education) and physical education. They were also asked about their own education levels and the monthly family income in renminbi, which is the Chinese currency. The students brought the completed surveys back to school the following day. The surveys were screened for completeness and entered into a database for quality checking by six research staff. These staff re‐entered 10% of the surveys to check for accuracy and the error rate was <0.0002%. Information on the children's attitudes towards outdoor activities, hygiene practices such as hand washing during outdoor activities and parent and peer support were also collected, but not included in this study.

Data analysis

The children's BMI, BMI Z‐score and standard deviations of BMI for age were calculated with the free AnthroPlus software from the World Health Organization (WHO) and using WHO Child Growth Standards 10 . The classification of obesity was based on the reference developed by the Working Group on Obesity in China (WGOC) 11 . We also classified obesity using the WHO age‐specific and sex‐specific BMI cut‐off points that were based on the WHO Child Growth Standards 12 . We used the BMI Z‐score as the continuous measure of obesity in this study, but performed the analyses on BMI as well. Associations between categorical variables were analysed with chi‐square ( χ 2 ) statistics, and associations between categorical and ordinal variables were analysed with Somer's d. Spearman's correlation was used to examine the relation between ordinal and continuous variables. The one‐way F‐test was used to test group differences or trends on continuous variables. Generalised estimation equations were used to estimate the independent associations between the BMI Z‐score as the response variable and EBRBs outside school hours as the explanatory variables. The city where the school data collection sites were based was included as a random term to control the clustering effect. The children's age, gender, grade levels, average school grades, average physical education grade, father's and mother's education levels and monthly family income were included as covariates. The analysis was repeated with stratification by gender to examine gender‐specific relationships between obesity and EBRBs outside school hours. To produce a parsimonious model, only significant covariates were kept in the final model. SPSS Statistics version 22 (IBM Corp., New York, NY, USA) was used in data analysis, with significance set at p = 0.05 based on a two‐sided test.

The study comprised 5032 students from six years and one month to 14.1 years, with a mean age of 9.70 and standard deviation of 1.72. Grades 1–6 normally cover students up to the age of 12, but sometimes they contain a few older students who are behind with their education for some reason. Table  1 shows the student characteristics and associations with obesity status. In general, the students in the study came from educated families, as 50.1% of the fathers and 46.2% of the mothers had attended college or higher education. More than two‐thirds of the families had a monthly income of <10 000 RMB, which was comparable to the 2012 national average family income of 13 000 RMB or 2100 US dollars per month. Students had a wide range of school grades in academic subject areas and physical education. Similar proportions of students from the five cities and across school grade levels were presented in the study sample (data not shown). Finally, higher levels of parent education and family income were associated with higher levels of obesity.

Student characteristics (n = 5032) and unadjusted correlations a with obesity status

A = The best grade; Grade F = Poorest grade; RMB = Renminbi (Chinese currency).

*p > 0.05, **p > 0.001, two‐sided test.

Table  2 shows the rate of overweight and obesity based on the Chinese WGOC reference in the overall student sample and by the cities included in the data collection. Boys were more likely to be overweight ( χ 2  = 115.48, df = 1, p < 0.001) and obese ( χ 2  = 80.43, df = 1, p < 0.001) than girls, and the patterns were similar across all five cities. The highest prevalence was observed in Beijing and Shanghai, two of the largest and most developed cities in China. Obesity rates based on the WHO Child Growth Standards are also presented. The rate for overweight was higher in the WHO reference than the WGOC reference, but the levels were similar for obesity. There was a significant inverse relationship for the total sample and by gender between the level of obesity and the students’ class grade level in school (p < 0.001 for trend) (Table  3 ). The inverse trend with age was particularly striking, with a difference of more than 10 percentage points between students in the first grade (19.6%) and the sixth grade (6.8%).

Rates of overweight and obesity in the overall student sample and broken down by gender

WGOC = Working Group on Obesity in China; WHO = World Health Organization child growth charts.

Unadjusted correlations between school grade level and obesity status a

Chinese primary students dedicated more time to academic‐related work outside school hours, namely homework and remedial academic work, and this reached almost three hours on weekdays and more than four hours on weekend days (Table S1). The time they spent on screen viewing and outdoor activities was rather limited on weekdays, at approximately one hour per day. On weekdays, boys spent more time on homework, screen viewing and sleep than girls. Girls spent more time on remedial academic work on both weekdays and weekend days than boys. Boys also spent more time on outdoor play on weekend days. Finally, children in higher grades spent more time on academic‐related activities and less time on nonacademic‐related activities and sleep, especially on weekdays (Table S2). Overall, there was a limited amount of discretionary time, approximately two to three hours per day, left for children to engage in other essential daily routine activities, such as travelling to and from school, eating meals, going to the toilet and washing (data not shown). A higher class grade level was significantly correlated with more time spent on homework and remedial academic work on weekdays and weekend days. Higher grades were also significantly correlated with less time spent on screen viewing and outdoor activities on weekend days and less sleep on weekdays.

In general, weekday afterschool EBRBs were associated more closely with obesity status as shown in Table  4 . Weekday homework, screen viewing and outdoor activities were positively associated with obesity status, while weekend day remedial academic work and weekday sleep were inversely associated (p < 0.05). Finally, obesity status was positively correlated with time spent on homework on weekdays, screen viewing on weekdays and weekend days and outdoor activities on weekdays. It was also inversely correlated with time spent on remedial academic work on weekend days and sleep on weekdays.

Means, standard deviations (SD) of out of school EBRB s and their correlations a with obesity status

EBRB = Energy balance‐related behaviour.

After controlling for significant covariates, the BMI Z‐score in the model that combined all the students was significantly and positively associated with hours of homework and screen viewing, inversely associated with hours of sleeping on weekdays and marginally and negatively associated with hours of outdoor activities on weekend days (Table  5 ). In the boys’ model, the BMI Z‐score was significantly and positively associated with hours spent on homework and negatively associated with hours of sleep on weekdays and was not related to EBRBs on weekend days. In the girls’ model, the BMI Z‐score was significantly and positively associated with hours of screen viewing on weekdays and was significantly and negatively associated with hours of outdoor activities on weekend days. The results were similar when we performed the analysis with BMI as the outcome variable (result not shown).

Results from generalised estimation equations analysis on the relationships between the children's body mass index Z‐score and energy balanced‐related behaviours outside school

B = Regression coefficient; SE = Standard error; p = Level of significance; ns = Not significant.

*Weekday model and † weekend day model both adjusted for intercept, gender and grade level.

‡ Weekday model and § weekend day model both adjusted for intercept, grade level and physical education grade.

¶ Weekday model and **weekend day model both adjusted for intercept, grade level and father's education level.

Findings from this survey study revealed that levels of overweight (13.7%) and obesity (13.6%) in primary school students living in large metropolitan cities were alarmingly high, continuing a secular trend that has emerged since the 2000s in Chinese children 2 , 13 . It is particularly worrying to see the gender disparity in obesity that emerged in this study, with the rate in boys nearly doubling and disproportional obesity at lower grade levels. Higher levels of parental education and family income were associated with higher levels of obesity in this sample of urban Chinese children, and this was consistent with studies conducted in the United States and other Western countries. The associations disappeared in the multivariate analysis, except for in the models for just girls, where the father's education remained a significant covariate. However, class grades and gender remained as significant covariates, suggesting the important role they play in understanding the obesity epidemic in Chinese students. Finally, there was evidence that time spent on academic‐related activities, screen viewing, outdoor activities and sleep was closely associated with obesity and that this varied by gender between weekdays and weekend days.

The rate of obesity in our study sample was consistent with recent studies based on the Chinese WGOC reference that used height and weight measured directly by trained research staff 2 , 13 . The prevalence of childhood obesity in China has doubled over the past 10 years according to a report published by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China in 2014 14 . It is not a surprise that the prevalence of childhood obesity has approached those observed in the United States and other developed countries in less than two decades, in the light of the alarming temporal increase in rate of obesity since the 1980s 8 , 13 . For instance, Ma et al. reported that the obesity rates were 0.10%, 0.30%, 0.23% and 0.23% in 1985–1995, 1995–2000, 2000–2005 and 2005–2010, respectively, using data from the Chinese National Survey on Students Constitution and Health 15 .

While some studies, including our study, have showed that time for academic‐related activity and screen viewing increased with age, while sleep duration decreased with age 8 , 16 , other studies have reported that older children and adolescents were more physically active and spent less on screen viewing 7 . A study of 2163 Chinese children aged nine years to 17 years from 11 cities measured daily physical activity and sedentary behaviour using accelerometry 17 . As the children got older, they had higher levels of moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behaviour. However, levels of MVPA and sedentary behaviour were not correlated with children's obesity status in the study sample. The same was also observed in a sample of Australian girls 18 . These findings suggest that other EBRBs influenced the energy balance and obesity in children as well.

Concern has been raised about the faster increase in obesity in lower‐level primary school students (grades 1–3) than upper‐level students (grades 4–6) that have been found in studies of Chinese children 8 , 19 , and these were also found in our study. A similar trend has also been reported in other developing countries in recent years 20 . Although there is no clear explanation for this secular trend of obesity, Yang and Huffman speculated that the introduction of formula feeding, increased consumption of foods with high protein levels and added sugar, reduced access to physical activities and poor maternal prenatal diets might have contributed to the higher prevalence of obesity among younger children in developing countries 21 .

However, it is still unclear why the prevalence of obesity in boys in our study was nearly twice as high as the girls who took part. This gender disparity has also been reported by others studies of Chinese children 8 , 19 . As nutritious foods are in plentiful supply and food insecurity is not an issue in Chinese urban cities 1 , 13 , one plausible explanation is that boys consumed a more energy‐dense diet than girls and that led to a positive energy balance. However, food consumption or eating unhealthy foods has not been associated with a particular gender and cannot explain the differences in obesity in Chinese children reported in the current literature 7 . This means that we are left with the other parameter in the energy balance equation, namely the energy expenditure. Although we could not quantify which gender was more sedentary based on the reported EBRBs, there were clear differences in EBRBs between boys and girls that suggested that boys were more sedentary on weekdays. Furthermore, the stratified analyses showed differential associations of EBRBs with obesity: the boys’ obesity was influenced by more time spent on homework and less sleep on weekdays while the girls’ obesity was associated with more screen viewing on weekdays and less outdoor activity on weekend days. While the increased sedentary time and decreased sleep in boys can be explained by a displacement effect due to increase time spent on academic‐related work on weekdays, girls have been reported to prefer sedentary activities 17 , 22 .

Higher pressure for academic excellence from society, schools and parents has been linked to increased time spent on homework and lack of sleep and may contribute to the limited time spent on screen viewing by Chinese students, as suggested by cross‐cultural studies 8 . Chinese students spend more time on homework and other academic‐related work outside school hours and less time on screen viewing and sleep, compared to students of the same age from Western countries. However, less is known about the differences in physical activity and diet between Chinese and Western students. Although academic pressure has been related to childhood obesity in some developing countries 23 , it has not become the focus of studies in China. Our findings showed that academic‐related activities outside school hours displaced time for physical activity and sleep in primary school students 24 . This should serve as a warning to parents, schools, policy makers and ultimately the Chinese education system to re‐examine and modify the current practices and expectations of children in primary schools 7 . It should be noted that the amount of time spent on homework, screen viewing and sleep based on the parental reports in this study was similar to those reported in large national surveys in China 8 , 22 .

Childhood obesity prevention in China has generally focused on promoting physical activity and healthy eating 25 . Recently studies have identified that sedentary behaviours, such as watching TV and playing on computers, high level of life stress and lack of sleep were independently associated with obesity in Western children 5 , 26 . Findings from our study suggest that sedentary behaviour from an excessive amount of time spent on academic‐related work and inadequate sleep, in addition to a lack of physical activity and excessive screen viewing, may be responsible for increased obesity in Chinese children 7 . An examination of childhood obesity intervention studies in China revealed that focusing interventions on physical activity and unhealthy diets, commonly regarded as two primary contributors to the current obesity epidemic, produced marginally effective outcomes, suggesting additional factors may also play roles 25 . Therefore, all EBRBs need to be considered in order to prevent childhood obesity and interventions should specifically target the relevant EBRBs to be effective for different genders and age groups.

We found a positive association between obesity status and outdoor activity time on weekdays, but not on weekend days, in the study sample. Because of the ongoing school‐based national Sunshine Activity campaign, which has encouraged Chinese children to play outside in the sunshine since 2007, we assessed the time spent on outdoor activities rather than on MVPA in this study. However, it is not appropriate to equate the outdoor activities reported in this study with MVPA. The three most commonly reported outdoor activities in this study were as follows: (i) exercises and sport activities involving moderate and vigorous intensity, such as jumping with ropes, soccer, swimming, jogging and exercise stations; (ii) games and play activities involving light and moderate intensity, such as hide‐and‐seek and playing in the park; and (iii) outdoor leisure activities involving light intensity, such as leisurely strolls with friends and walking the dog. High‐intensity exercises and sports activities were less common in our cohort. When we examined these three reported activities in the study sample, we found that overweight and obese students engaged more frequently in light‐ and moderate‐intensity activities and less frequently in higher‐intensity exercises and sport activities than normal weight students on weekdays (data not shown). Therefore, the positive correlation between obesity and outdoor activities on weekdays could be due to the measurement method used. However, this cannot be directly examined in this study.

There were several limitations to the study. First, because this study used a cross‐sectional design, the findings relating to relationships between responses and explanatory variables should not be interpreted as causal. Future studies should examine the findings further using longitudinal study designs. Second, all of the data, including height and weight, were self‐reported and subject to bias in self‐reports and inaccurate recalls. Although parental reports of children's health information is regularly used in population‐based health studies, the use of such data tends to overestimate weight and that lead to overestimation of obesity rates in children 27 . Therefore, study findings based on parent‐reported height and weight should be interpreted with caution. Similarly, parental reports of the time that their children spend on various activities outside school hours on weekdays and weekend days are also subject to recall errors. Nonetheless, the obesity rates and how the school‐aged children in this study used their time were similar to studies based on directly measured height and weight or observational studies from the same period. Third, because the study data were not collected from a nationally representative sample and did not include children from small cities or rural regions, the findings should not be overgeneralised. Fourth, the use of the Chinese WGOC cut‐off reference for obesity tends to overestimate obesity for boys aged 6–16 and underestimate obesity for girls aged 3–18 and that may have exacerbated the gender disparity 28 . Finally, the study only focused on EBRBs outside school hours and did not collect data on diet and physical activity at school. Future studies need to examine EBRBs that occur both inside and outside school, including diet, to establish a full picture of the relationships between obesity and EBRBs in children.

The rate of obesity was high in Chinese primary school children, especially among boys and children in lower grades, and there were differential associations between obesity status and EBRBs in Chinese boys and girls outside school hours. Accordingly, obesity prevention programmes that only focus on physical activity, screen viewing and diet may not produce expected outcomes without addressing excessive time spent on academic‐related activity and inadequate sleep in Chinese children 25 . The design of interventions should also take into account the differences between EBRBs on weekdays and weekend days 17 . Finally, there is a need to conduct cross‐cultural studies of obesity and EBRBs that can help us to understand the underlying causes of the gender differences and the increased rates of obesity in younger children. These will enable us to develop culturally relevant lifestyle interventions for different population groups in China.

This study was partly funded by the Children's Center of China. The funder had no role in any part of the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interests to disclose.

Supporting information

Table S1. Means, standard deviations ( SD ) of non‐school EBRB s for all students and comparison by gender.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Children's Centers in Shanghai, Anhui Provence, Shanxi Provence and Guangdong Provence for their help in the collection, entry and quality checking of the study data and the students, parents and school teachers whose participation and cooperation made this study possible.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings
• My Bibliography
• Collections
• Citation manager

Save citation to file

Email citation, add to collections.

• Create a new collection
• Add to an existing collection

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search, create a file for external citation management software, your rss feed.

• Search in PubMed
• Search in NLM Catalog
• Add to Search

The effect of physical activity homework on physical activity among college students

Affiliation.

• 1 Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC 28723, USA.
• PMID: 19420398
• DOI: 10.1123/jpah.6.2.203

Background: This study examined the effect of using physical activity homework on physical activity levels of college students.

Methods: Students in randomly assigned sections of a university health course were assigned 30 minutes of physical activity homework 3 days a week or no homework for 12 weeks. Participants completed self-reports of physical activity before the homework intervention and again at the conclusion of the 12 weeks of physical activity homework.

Results: Participants in all course sections reported significant increases in the number of days per week of moderate and vigorous physical activity. Participants in homework sections additionally showed significant increases in the days they engaged in muscular strength/endurance training and activities to manage weight. Participants in sections without homework showed a significant increase in the number of days engaged in flexibility training. Comparison of gain scores showed statistically significant increases by the homework group in the days they participated in activities designed to manage weight.

Conclusion: Physical activity homework was deemed to be an effective method of increasing college students' levels of physical activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

• Efficacy of a compulsory homework programme for increasing physical activity and healthy eating in children: the healthy homework pilot study. Duncan S, McPhee JC, Schluter PJ, Zinn C, Smith R, Schofield G. Duncan S, et al. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011 Nov 15;8:127. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-8-127. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011. PMID: 22085440 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
• The Effect of Chinese Traditional Exercise-Baduanjin on Physical and Psychological Well-Being of College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Li M, Fang Q, Li J, Zheng X, Tao J, Yan X, Lin Q, Lan X, Chen B, Zheng G, Chen L. Li M, et al. PLoS One. 2015 Jul 9;10(7):e0130544. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130544. eCollection 2015. PLoS One. 2015. PMID: 26158769 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
• Wellness and resilience for college and beyond: protocol for a quasi-experimental pilot study investigating a dialectical behaviour therapy skill-infused college course. Chugani CD, Fuhrman B, Abebe KZ, Talis J, Miller E, Coulter RWS. Chugani CD, et al. BMJ Open. 2020 Jun 21;10(6):e036833. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-036833. BMJ Open. 2020. PMID: 32565475 Free PMC article.
• Impact of an online healthful eating and physical activity program for college students. Greene GW, White AA, Hoerr SL, Lohse B, Schembre SM, Riebe D, Patterson J, Kattelmann KK, Shoff S, Horacek T, Blissmer B, Phillips BW. Greene GW, et al. Am J Health Promot. 2012 Nov-Dec;27(2):e47-58. doi: 10.4278/ajhp.110606-QUAN-239. Am J Health Promot. 2012. PMID: 23113786 Clinical Trial.
• Assessment of weight status, dietary habits and beliefs, physical activity, and nutritional knowledge among university students. Yahia N, Wang D, Rapley M, Dey R. Yahia N, et al. Perspect Public Health. 2016 Jul;136(4):231-44. doi: 10.1177/1757913915609945. Epub 2015 Oct 16. Perspect Public Health. 2016. PMID: 26475773 Review.
• Fitness Promotion in a Jump Rope-Based Homework Intervention for Middle School Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Huang F, Song Y, Zhao Y, Han Y, Fang Q. Huang F, et al. Front Psychol. 2022 Jun 16;13:912635. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.912635. eCollection 2022. Front Psychol. 2022. PMID: 35783780 Free PMC article.
• Types of Interventions Targeting Dietary, Physical Activity, and Weight-Related Outcomes among University Students: A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews. Belogianni K, Baldwin C. Belogianni K, et al. Adv Nutr. 2019 Sep 1;10(5):848-863. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmz027. Adv Nutr. 2019. PMID: 31181143 Free PMC article.
• Effectiveness of interventions targeting physical activity, nutrition and healthy weight for university and college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Plotnikoff RC, Costigan SA, Williams RL, Hutchesson MJ, Kennedy SG, Robards SL, Allen J, Collins CE, Callister R, Germov J. Plotnikoff RC, et al. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015 Apr 1;12:45. doi: 10.1186/s12966-015-0203-7. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015. PMID: 25890337 Free PMC article. Review.
• Interventions for weight gain prevention during the transition to young adulthood: a review of the literature. Laska MN, Pelletier JE, Larson NI, Story M. Laska MN, et al. J Adolesc Health. 2012 Apr;50(4):324-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.01.016. J Adolesc Health. 2012. PMID: 22443834 Free PMC article. Review.

Publication types

• Search in MeSH

LinkOut - more resources

Full text sources.

• Sheridan PubFactory

• Citation Manager

NCBI Literature Resources

MeSH PMC Bookshelf Disclaimer

The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited.

Working from home has negatively impacted physical health and mental health, study finds

• Download PDF Copy

What impact has working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic had on our health? In a new study, researchers from USC have found that working from home has negatively impacted our physical health and mental health, increased work expectations and distractions, reduced our communications with co-workers and ultimately lessened our productivity.

The study finds that time spent at the workstation increased by approximately 1.5 hours, while most workers are likely to have less job satisfaction and increased neck pain when working from home. It also illustrates the differential impact of working from home for women, parents, and those with higher income.

Nearly 1,000 respondents participated in the survey regarding the impact of working from home on physical and mental well-being. Authored by Ph.D student Yijing Xiao, Burcin Becerik-Gerber, Dean's Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gale Lucas, a research Assistant Professor at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies and Shawn Roll, Associate Professor of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, the study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine . Becerik-Gerber and Lucas are co-directors of The Center for Intelligent Environments at USC.

The survey was conducted during the early days of the pandemic. Responses regarding lifestyles, home office environments, and physical and mental well-being revealed the following about that first phase of the pandemic's "work from home" period:

• Over 64 percent of respondents claimed to have one or more new physical health issues
• Nearly 75 percent of those surveyed experienced one new mental health issue
• Female workers with annual salary less than 100k were more likely than male workers or workers with higher income to report two or more new physical and mental health issues
• Female workers had higher incidence of depression
• Parents with infants tended to have better mental well-being but also a higher chance of reporting a new mental health issue
• Having toddlers was affiliated with physical well-being but was also associated with more physical and mental health issues
• Living with at least one teenager lowered the risk of new health issues
• Nearly 3/4 of workers adjusted their work hours and more than 1/3 reported scheduling their work hours around others
• Workers who adjusted their work hours or schedule work around others were more likely to report new physical or mental health issues
• Pets did not appear to have impact on physical or mental health
• Workers decreased overall physical activity and physical exercise, combined with increased overall food intake
• Decreased physical and mental well-being was correlated with increased food or junk food intake
• Only one-third had a dedicated room for their work at home; at least 47. 6 percent shared their workspace with others

The authors suggest that having a dedicated work from home space would mitigate a number of negative impacts.

The quality of your home workspace is important; having a dedicated workspace signals to others that you are busy, and minimizes the chances of being distracted and interrupted. Increased satisfaction with the environmental quality factors in your workspace, such as lighting, temperature, is associated with a lower chance of having new health issues. In addition, knowing how to adjust your workspace helps with physical health." Burcin Becerik-Gerber, study's corresponding author

University of Southern California

Posted in: Medical Research News | Healthcare News

Tags: covid-19 , Depression , Exercise , Food , Junk Food , Medicine , Mental Health , Neck , Neck Pain , Occupational Therapy , Pain , Pandemic , pH , Physical Activity , Research

Suggested Reading

• Trending Stories
• Latest Interviews
• Top Health Articles

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Santi Dominguez

In this interview, NewsMedical talks to Santi Dominguez about the genesis of SCiY, and how the consortium intends to empower scientists and researchers.

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Dr. Michelle Chen

n this interview, Dr. Michelle Chen, Senior Director of Analytical Sciences at Wyatt Technology, talks to NewsMedical about how to use light scattering techniques to analyze proteins for their multi-attribute quantification (MAQ).

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

Amanda Jones

In this interview, NewsMedical talks to Amanda Jones at Revvity about the strategies and solutions available to revolutionize the landscape of R&D in clinical research.

Latest News

Newsletters you may be interested in

Your AI Powered Scientific Assistant

Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net.

A few things you need to know before we start. Please read and accept to continue.

• Use of “Azthena” is subject to the terms and conditions of use as set out by OpenAI .
• Content provided on any AZoNetwork sites are subject to the site Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy .
• Large Language Models can make mistakes. Consider checking important information.

Great. Ask your question.

Azthena may occasionally provide inaccurate responses. Read the full terms .

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions .

Provide Feedback

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons

Margin Size

• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

11.3: Health Related Components of Physical Fitness

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 35060

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)

\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)

\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)

\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)

Examining the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Health

In many studies covering a wide range of issues, researchers have focused on exercise , as well as on the more broadly defined concept of physical activity. Exercise is a form of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and performed with the goal of improving health or fitness. So, although all exercise is physical activity, not all physical activity is exercise.

Studies have examined the role of physical activity in many groups—men and women, children, teens, adults, older adults, people with disabilities, and women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. These studies have focused on the role that physical activity plays in many health outcomes, including:

• Premature (early) death;
• Diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, some cancers, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression;
• Risk factors for disease, such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol;
• Physical fitness , such as aerobic capacity , and muscle strength and endurance
• Functional capacity (the ability to engage in activities needed for daily living);
• Mental health, such as depression and cognitive function; and
• Injuries or sudden heart attacks.

These studies have also prompted questions as to what type and how much physical activity is needed for various health benefits. To answer this question, investigators have studied three main kinds of physical activity: aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening.

Aerobic Activity

In this kind of physical activity (also called cardiorespiratory fitness), the body’s large muscles move in a rhythmic manner for a sustained period of time. Brisk walking, running, bicycling, jumping rope, and swimming are all examples.

Aerobic activity causes a person’s heart to beat faster than usual.

Aerobic physical activity has three components:

• Intensity , or how hard a person works to do the activity. The intensities most often examined are moderate intensity (equivalent in effort to brisk walking) and vigorous intensity (equivalent in effort to running or jogging);
• Frequency , or how often a person does aerobic activity; and
• Duration , or how long a person does an activity in any one session.

Muscle-Strengthening Activity

This kind of activity, which includes resistance training and lifting weights, causes the body’s muscles to work or hold against an applied force or weight. These activities often involve relatively heavy objects, such as weights, which are lifted multiple times to train various muscle groups. Muscle-strengthening activity can also be done by using elastic bands or body weight for resistance (climbing a tree or doing push-ups, for example).

Muscle-strengthening activity also has three components:

• Intensity , or how much weight or force is used relative to how much a person is able to lift;
• Frequency , or how often a person does muscle strengthening activity; and
• Repetitions , or how many times a person lifts a weight (analogous to duration for aerobic activity). The effects of muscle-strengthening activity are limited to the muscles doing the work. It’s important to work all the major muscle groups of the body: the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.

Bone-Strengthening Activity

This kind of activity (sometimes called weight-bearing or weight-loading activity) produces a force on the bones that promotes bone growth and strength. This force is commonly produced by impact with the ground. Examples of bone-strengthening activity include jumping jacks, running, brisk walking, and weight-lifting exercises. As these examples illustrate, bone-strengthening activities can also be aerobic and muscle strengthening.

Overall Components of Physical Fitness

5 main components of physical fitness.

• Cardiorespiratory fitness – ability to sustain aerobic activity for a prolonged period of time
• Muscular strength – amount of force a muscle is able to exert in one contraction
• Muscular endurance – ability of the muscle to continue to perform without fatigue
• Flexibility – ability to move joints freely through their full range of motion
• Body Composition – the relative proportions of fat mass and lean mass in the body
• Components of Physical Activity. Authored by : Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Provided by : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Located at : https://health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/chapter2.aspx . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright

Module 4: Health-Promoting Behaviors

Health related components of physical fitness, examining the relationship between physical activity and health.

In many studies covering a wide range of issues, researchers have focused on  exercise , as well as on the more broadly defined concept of physical activity. Exercise is a form of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and performed with the goal of improving health or fitness. So, although all exercise is physical activity, not all physical activity is exercise.

Studies have examined the role of physical activity in many groups—men and women, children, teens, adults, older adults, people with disabilities, and women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. These studies have focused on the role that physical activity plays in many health outcomes, including:

• Premature (early) death;
• Diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, some cancers, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression;
• Risk factors for disease, such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol;
• Physical fitness , such as  aerobic capacity , and muscle  strength  and endurance
• Functional capacity (the ability to engage in activities needed for daily living);
• Mental health, such as depression and cognitive function; and
• Injuries or sudden heart attacks.

These studies have also prompted questions as to what type and how much physical activity is needed for various health benefits. To answer this question, investigators have studied three main kinds of physical activity: aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening.

Aerobic Activity

In this kind of physical activity (also called cardiorespiratory fitness), the body’s large muscles move in a rhythmic manner for a sustained period of time. Brisk walking, running, bicycling, jumping rope, and swimming are all examples.

Aerobic activity causes a person’s heart to beat faster than usual.

Aerobic physical activity has three components:

• Intensity , or how hard a person works to do the activity. The intensities most often examined are moderate intensity (equivalent in effort to brisk walking) and vigorous intensity (equivalent in effort to running or jogging);
• Frequency , or how often a person does aerobic activity; and
• Duration , or how long a person does an activity in any one session.

Muscle-Strengthening Activity

This kind of activity, which includes  resistance training  and lifting weights, causes the body’s muscles to work or hold against an applied force or weight. These activities often involve relatively heavy objects, such as weights, which are lifted multiple times to train various muscle groups. Muscle-strengthening activity can also be done by using elastic bands or body weight for resistance (climbing a tree or doing push-ups, for example).

Muscle-strengthening activity also has three components:

• Intensity , or how much weight or force is used relative to how much a person is able to lift;
• Frequency , or how often a person does muscle strengthening activity; and
• Repetitions , or how many times a person lifts a weight (analogous to duration for aerobic activity). The effects of muscle-strengthening activity are limited to the muscles doing the work. It’s important to work all the major muscle groups of the body: the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.

Bone-Strengthening Activity

This kind of activity (sometimes called weight-bearing or weight-loading activity) produces a force on the bones that promotes bone growth and strength. This force is commonly produced by impact with the ground. Examples of bone-strengthening activity include jumping jacks, running, brisk walking, and weight-lifting exercises. As these examples illustrate, bone-strengthening activities can also be aerobic and muscle strengthening.

Overall Components of Physical Fitness

5 main components of physical fitness.

• Cardiorespiratory fitness – ability to sustain aerobic activity for a prolonged period of time
• Muscular strength – amount of force a muscle is able to exert in one contraction
• Muscular endurance – ability of the muscle to continue to perform without fatigue
• Flexibility – ability to move joints freely through their full range of motion
• Body Composition – the relative proportions of fat mass and lean mass in the body
• Health Related Components of Physical Fitness. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-monroecc-healthed/ . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

Privacy Policy

More From Forbes

Why Mental And Physical Health Are The Foundation Of Effective Leadership

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Deadlines, long hours, and the constant pressure to perform can cause leaders to neglect their well-being. Missing a workout here and there isn’t a big deal, but when leaders start ignoring nutrition, skipping out on exercise, and opting for another cup of coffee instead of a good night’s sleep, they can start to spiral.

Health, both physical and mental, is not just a personal asset but a professional one as well. It is arguably a leader's greatest advantage in achieving success and fostering a positive work culture. As the saying goes, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” And when you’re running on empty, your team suffers. Managers impact people’s mental health more than their doctor (51%) or therapist (41%) and as much as spouses (69%), according to research from UKG . If you’ve let your health take a backseat as you run your team or business, it’s time to reprioritize it so you can be a more effective leader.

Physical Health As The Foundation Of Effective Leadership

A lot of health problems can be prevented or treated if they are caught in time. Yet, many people avoid the doctor's office despite persisting health issues.

“The reluctance to take time out of our busy days to see a doctor, compounded by current healthcare accessibility challenges, can lead to neglected conditions that worsen over time,” explains Michael Forbes, pharmacist, and founder of Ageless Living™ , a health and wellness center providing preventative care. The center advocates for a proactive stance on health, emphasizing the long-term benefits of maintaining physical activity and a balanced diet amidst the declining health trends observed in recent years.

“Leaders who maintain a healthy lifestyle tend to have more energy, be less prone to illness, and demonstrate greater endurance. These factors are essential for the long hours and demands of leadership roles,” adds Forbes.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024.

Physical health plays a crucial role in a leader's effectiveness. Living a healthy lifestyle can lead to better decision-making. Consistent exercise and good nutrition can improve cognitive functions, including problem-solving, memory, and concentration, according to researchers . Thus, by prioritizing their physical health, leaders can enhance their performance and set a positive example for their teams.

In the competitive landscape of business, every edge counts, and health is a significant one. A healthy leader is more likely to be innovative and creative. Physical activity and mental well-being practices like meditation have been linked to enhanced creativity and openness to new ideas.

“Time invested in regular exercise, even if it means spending less time at work, is correlated with higher ratings of leadership effectiveness,” explains exercise physiologist Sharon McDowell-Larsen . Being a more effective leader can translate into greater creativity and innovation within the organization, giving it a competitive edge.

The Ripple Effect Of A Healthy Leader

The impact of a leader's health extends beyond their personal well-being; it has a ripple effect on their organization. When they prioritize their health, it clearly conveys that health is valued within the organization. This can lead to healthier work-life balance practices among employees, reducing burnout and improving overall job satisfaction and productivity.

When employees have a more enjoyable work experience, their personal lives are enriched. “The socially-transmitted impact of your mindset extends well beyond those people with whom you interact directly in the workplace. It also touches those to whom they are connected — most notably their partners and family members, but also their larger networks and communities,” says Monique Valcour . As a leader, you are impacting your larger community, not just the people you interact with directly on a daily basis.

Moreover, healthy leaders are more capable of sustaining high levels of performance over time. Having endurance is crucial in today's business world, where adaptability and resilience are vital to navigating challenges and uncertainties.

“Leaders who are physically and mentally fit are better equipped to handle stress, make clear-headed decisions under pressure, and maintain their focus on long-term goals,” adds Forbes.

Leaders can enhance their decision-making, creativity, and resilience by prioritizing their health. Moreover, they set a powerful example for their teams, fostering a culture that values and promotes health. Even in today’s demanding and fast-paced work culture, there is a positive shift occurring towards self-care, which can go a long way in both personal health benefits and contributing to career success.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Join The Conversation

One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. 

Forbes Community Guidelines

Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.

In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's  Terms of Service.   We've summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.

Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:

• False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
• Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
• Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
• Content that otherwise violates our site's  terms.

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

• Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
• Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.

Virtual Tour

Experience University of Idaho with a virtual tour. Explore now

• Discover a Career
• Find a Major
• Experience U of I Life

More Resources

• Admitted Students
• International Students

Take Action

• Find Financial Aid
• View Deadlines
• Find Your Rep

Helping to ensure U of I is a safe and engaging place for students to learn and be successful. Read about Title IX.

Get Involved

• Clubs & Volunteer Opportunities
• Recreation and Wellbeing
• Student Government
• Student Sustainability Cooperative
• Academic Assistance
• Safety & Security
• Career Services
• Health & Wellness Services
• Register for Classes
• Dates & Deadlines
• Financial Aid
• Sustainable Solutions
• U of I Library

• Upcoming Events

Review the events calendar.

Stay Connected

• Vandal Family Newsletter
• Here We Have Idaho Magazine
• Living on Campus
• Campus Safety
• About Moscow

The largest Vandal Family reunion of the year. Check dates.

Benefits and Services

• Vandal Voyagers Program
• Vandal License Plate
• Submit Class Notes
• Make a Gift
• View Events
• Alumni Chapters
• University Magazine
• Alumni Newsletter

U of I's web-based retention and advising tool provides an efficient way to guide and support students on their road to graduation. Login to VandalStar.

Common Tools

• Administrative Procedures Manual (APM)
• Class Schedule
• OIT Tech Support
• Academic Dates & Deadlines
• U of I Retirees Association
• Faculty Senate
• Staff Council

Department of Movement Sciences

Mailing Address: College of Education, Health and Human Sciences University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 2401 Moscow, Idaho 83844-2401

Phone: 208-885-7921

Fax: 208-885-5929

Email: [email protected]

Taking Research to Heart

Exercise science student finds her place studying cardiovascular health.

Vandal Touches People’s Lives Daily

Daniel Trautvetter (’13) dedicated to helping cancer patients, tobacco cessation.

A Heart For Giving Back

Ramon Salinas' impact success story on how donor driven opportunities led to his employment.

Happy Healthy Humans

CEHHS Grads Improve People’s Quality of Life

Exercise, Sport, and Health Sciences

As a student in the University of Idaho’s Exercise, Sport, and Health Sciences four-year degree program, you will acquire knowledge, leadership skills and the technical abilities to plan, implement and evaluate health and fitness programs for individuals, teams and communities. You will gain in-depth knowledge of the human body and how physical activity, healthy eating and maintaining a healthy body weight can reduce chronic disease and disability.

The Exercise, Sport, and Health Sciences curriculum includes courses such as:

Physiology of Exercise

Fitness Assessment and Prescription

Design and Analysis of Research

Concepts in Human Nutrition

Psychosocial Determinants of Health

Applied Sport Psychology

Biomechanics

Motor Behavior

Health Promotion

Introduction to Athletic Injuries

The program incorporates classroom teaching, hands-on learning, and service learning projects to give you an opportunity to apply the skills you have learned in real-world and laboratory settings.

Food is Medicine: A Project to Unify and Advance Collective Action

The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health — held in September 2022 — renewed national attention and issued a call to action to end hunger and reduce the prevalence of chronic disease in the United States by 2030.  

Food is Medicine approaches that focus on integrating consistent access to diet- and nutrition- related resources are a critical component to achieve this goal. The approaches are increasingly present across many communities and systems. There’s also increasing federal investment and action to support Food is Medicine approaches in a variety of settings. 

Building on this collective energy, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) developed a Food is Medicine initiative in response to a congressionally funded initiative in fiscal year 2023. This congressional action directed the Secretary of HHS, in consultation with other federal agencies, to develop and implement a federal strategy to reduce nutrition-related chronic diseases and food insecurity to improve health and racial equity in the United States. This includes diet-related research and programmatic efforts that will increase access to Food is Medicine initiatives.

Learn about Food is Medicine framing language and principles.

Understanding the Connection Between Food and Health

Access to nutritious food is critical to health and resilience. Food is Medicine is a concept that reaffirms this connection, recognizing that access to high-quality nourishment is essential for well-being. By supporting the production of and facilitating access to nutritious food across a health continuum and range of settings, approaches to Food is Medicine support immediate and long-term resources for people, communities, and systems.

Nutrition Security and Health: By the Numbers

• Approximately 33.8 million people live in food-insecure households. 1
• Household food insecurity affected 12.5 percent of households with children in 2021. 1
• About half of all American adults — or 117 million individuals — have 1 or more preventable chronic disease, many of which are related to poor-quality eating patterns and physical inactivity. These include cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and poor bone health. 2
• Lower food security is associated with higher probability of chronic disease diagnosis — including hypertension, coronary heart disease, hepatitis, stroke, cancer, asthma, diabetes, arthritis, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and kidney disease. 3
• Nearly $173 billion a year is spent on health care for obesity alone. 4

HHS Approach

HHS will work collaboratively with federal partners and external organizations and communities to develop resources that can be used to advance Food is Medicine approaches across the country.

Our plans include the following steps:

1. Listen to Communities and Implementation Partners

• HHS will engage with a variety of external partners across the nation to better understand challenges and opportunities to advance Food is Medicine models.
• HHS will conduct an environmental scan of existing Food is Medicine models, initiatives, and federal, state, and local regulations and policies.

2. Cultivate Partnerships with Cross-Sector Leaders

• HHS and federal colleagues will build a public-private learning collaborative to support collectively measuring and demonstrating data-driven insights.

3. Develop Resources to Support Broad Uptake

• HHS will develop an evidence-based implementation resource that can serve as a practical guide to help communities understand how to design and implement effective Food is Medicine pilots and policy-sustaining programs.
• HHS will create a unified, applied-measures registry to support and create a transparent catalog of high-value, reliable measures.
• HHS will facilitate knowledge exchange and continue to identify opportunities for federal action to advance a robust Food is Medicine landscape.

Please note that this webpage will be updated with tools and resources as the initiative progresses.

Examples of Current HHS Food is Medicine Activities and Practice Resources

• Innovations in Medicaid programs: Section 1115 of the Social Security Act gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to approve experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects, offering states an avenue to test new approaches in Medicaid that differ from what is required by federal statute. The Biden-Harris Administration has encouraged states to propose innovative Section 1115 waivers that expand coverage, reduce health disparities, and/or advance whole-person care (including addressing health-related social needs). HHS recently approved groundbreaking Medicaid initiatives in Massachusetts and Oregon and Arkansas that gave the states new authority to test coverage for evidence-based nutritional assistance and medically tailored meals. 
• Indian Health Service (IHS) Produce Prescription Pilot Program: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people are disproportionately impacted by food insecurity when compared to non-Native people. They’re also more likely to live in areas with low or no access to fresh foods than any other racial or ethnic group. Produce prescription programs have been shown to increase access to nutritious foods in communities at risk for food insecurity. In 2023, IHS awarded a total of $2.5 million in funding to help decrease food insecurity in Native communities. Of that funding, 5 tribes and tribal organizations received $500,000 each in 2023 to implement a produce prescription program in their communities.
• Stimulating Research: In June 2022, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Stimulating Research to Understand and Address Hunger, Food and Nutrition Insecurity to encourage research on the efficacy of interventions that address nutrition security and the mechanisms of food insecurity on a variety of health outcomes. In April 2023, as part of a government-wide collaboration that includes 12 federal agencies and offices, NIH released a Request for Information on Food is Medicine Research Opportunities to gather input on the following topic areas: 1) Research, 2) Community Outreach and Engagement, 3) Education and Training, 4) Provision of Food is Medicine Services and Activities, and 5) Coverage for Services.
• Supporting Best Practices: The Administration for Community Living developed a public-facing resource with information to support partners’ design and implementation of Food is Medicine approaches, such as medically tailored meals, for older adults.

1 https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/key-statistics-graphics

2 https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2016/03/16/healthy-eating-index-how-america-doing#:~:text=About%20half%20of%20all%20American,cancers%2C%20and%20poor%20bone%20health

3 https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/84467/err-235.pdf?v=9081.9

4 https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/nutrition.htm

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.

Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by ODPHP or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.

You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.

Physical therapy services

When your doctor or other health care provider (including a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, or physician assistant) certifies you need it, Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) helps pay for medically necessary outpatient physical therapy. 

Your costs in Original Medicare

After you meet the Part B deductible, you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount .

There's no limit on how much Medicare pays for your medically necessary outpatient therapy services in one calendar year.

Find out cost

To find out how much your test, item, or service will cost, talk to your doctor or health care provider. The specific amount you’ll owe may depend on several things, like:

• Other insurance you may have
• How much your doctor charges
• If your doctor accepts assignment
• The type of facility
• Where you get your test, item, or service

Frequency of services

Your doctor or other health care provider may recommend you get services more often than Medicare covers. Or, they may recommend services that Medicare doesn’t cover. If this happens, you may have to pay some or all of the costs. Ask questions so you understand why your doctor is recommending certain services and if, or how much, Medicare will pay for them.

Physical Therapy helps to restore or improve physical movement in your body after an injury, illness, or surgery. You can also get this therapy to help improve or maintain your current function, or slow decline.

Things to know

There’s no limit on how much Medicare pays for your medically necessary outpatient physical therapy services in one calendar year.

Related resources

• Occupational therapy
• Speech-language pathology services

Is my test, item, or service covered?

Sword Health raises $130M and its valuation soars to $3B

Sword Health , an AI-powered virtual physical therapy startup, has raised $30 million and let employees sell $100 million worth of equity to new and existing investors, including Khosla Ventures. The round brings the nine-year-old company’s valuation to $3 billion, a 50% increase from the $2 billion value it garnered in its Series D in November 2021.

The company initially set out to just do the $100 million secondary round that would allow employees and early investors to sell shares, Virgílio Bento, Sword’s CEO and founder, told TechCrunch. But when he saw that the secondary round was oversubscribed, the company also decided to raise a $30 million primary round and update its valuation.

“It’s a very intense environment: long hours and high expectations. We wanted to reward our team, especially our early employees,” he said.

Sword didn’t need the influx of capital because it’s forecasted to be profitable by the end of the year, Bento said. However, he liked the signal an updated valuation would send during the tough fundraising conditions of 2024.  

“No one really believes in the valuations of 2021 given how irrational the market was,” Bento said. While most employees know that the company is doing well, Sword’s clients, who include employers and health plans of Fortune 500 companies, had no clear way of gauging the company’s progress. “We wanted to showcase our growth, and valuation is one indicator of that.”

The company won’t use the $30 million for operations. “It’s going to be in the bank, generating nice interest,” Bento said.

The latest primary round brings Sword’s total funding to $340 million. In addition to Khosla Ventures, the company’s investors include General Catalyst, BOND, Founders Fund, and others. 

Proving that Sword is doing so well is likely important to the company because it competes directly with another virtual therapy platform, Hinge Health, which was last valued at $6.2 billion in October 2021 . In April, Hinge laid off 10% of its workforce as a step in its plans to reach profitability in preparation for a potential IPO, TechCrunch reported .

Bento also has a goal of an IPO for Sword. If the company grows as expected and the macroeconomic environment is favorable, it could potentially list in 2025, but the company is not committed to a specific timeline, Bento said.  

In the meantime, the company is beefing up its AI. It is introducing a human-like voice for its genAI, named Phoenix, to its musculoskeletal therapy and women’s pelvic health care therapy. Phoenix powers all patient interactions and Sword’s virtual therapists. “It’s the last piece of the puzzle that makes Phoenix much more engaging,” Bento said.

More TechCrunch

Get the industry’s biggest tech news, techcrunch daily news.

Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.

Startups Weekly

Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.

TechCrunch Fintech

The latest Fintech news and analysis, delivered every Tuesday.

TechCrunch Mobility

TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight.

After hits like Reddit and Scopley, Collaborative Fund easily raised a $125M fund to tackle climate, health and food

“We were motivated to fundraise because we think the ’24 vintage is going to be a good one,” founder Craig Shapiro said.

Sources: Wasoko-MaxAB e-commerce merger faces delays amid headwinds in Africa

The merger has yet to close due to extended due diligence amid ongoing restructuring and macroeconomic headwinds across multiple countries.

With €50 million to invest, Italian Founders Fund looks for entrepreneurs with global ambitions

While funding for Italian startups has been growing, the country still ranks eighth in Europe by VC investment, according to Dealroom. Newly created Italian Founders Fund (IFF) hopes to help…

William Anders, astronaut who took the famous ‘Earthrise’ photo, dies at 90

William A. Anders, the astronaut behind perhaps the single most iconic photo of our planet, has died at the age of 90. On Friday morning, Anders was piloting a small…

Startup Battlefield 200 applications close tomorrow

You’re running out of time to join the Startup Battlefield 200, our curated showcase of top startups from around the world and across multiple industries. This elite cohort — 200…

New York moves to limit kids’ access to ‘addictive feeds’

New York’s state legislature has passed a bill that would prohibit social media companies from showing so-called “addictive feeds” to children under 18, unless they obtain parental consent. The Stop…

Cat-sitting startup Meowtel clawed its way to profitability despite trouble raising from dog-focused VCs

Dogs are the most popular pet in the U.S.: 65.1 million households have one, according to the American Pet Products Association. But while cats are not far off, with 46.5…

Anterior grabs $20M from NEA to expedite health insurance approvals with AI

Anterior, a company that uses AI to expedite health insurance approval for medical procedures, has raised a $20 million Series A round at a $95 million post-money valuation led by…

How India’s most valuable startup ended up being worth nothing

Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review — TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. There’s more bad news for…

Bereave wants employers to suck a little less at navigating death

If death and taxes are inevitable, why are companies so prepared for taxes, but not for death? “I lost both of my parents in college, and it didn’t initially spark…

Apple needs to focus on making AI useful, not flashy

Google and Microsoft have made their developer conferences a showcase of their generative AI chops, and now all eyes are on next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which is expected to…

Deal Dive: Human Native AI is building the marketplace for AI training licensing deals

AI systems and large language models need to be trained on massive amounts of data to be accurate but they shouldn’t train on data that they don’t have the rights…

Wazer Pro is making desktop water jetting more affordable

Before Wazer came along, “water jet cutting” and “affordable” didn’t belong in the same sentence. That changed in 2016, when the company launched the world’s first desktop water jet cutter,…

Autonomy’s Mike Lynch acquitted after US fraud trial brought by HP

Former Autonomy chief executive Mike Lynch issued a statement Thursday following his acquittal of criminal charges, ending a 13-year legal battle with Hewlett-Packard that became one of Silicon Valley’s biggest…

Featured Article

What Snowflake isn’t saying about its customer data breaches

As another Snowflake customer confirms a data breach, the cloud data company says its position “remains unchanged.”

Rippling bans former employees who work at competitors like Deel and Workday from its tender offer stock sale

Investor demand has been so strong for Rippling’s shares that it is letting former employees particpate in its tender offer. With one exception.

NASA puts $10M down on Mars sample return proposals from Blue Origin, SpaceX and others

It turns out the space industry has a lot of ideas on how to improve NASA’s $11 billion, 15-year plan to collect and return samples from Mars. Seven of these…

In 2024, many Y Combinator startups only want tiny seed rounds — but there’s a catch

When Bowery Capital general partner Loren Straub started talking to a startup from the latest Y Combinator accelerator batch a few months ago, she thought it was strange that the company didn’t have a lead investor for the round it was raising. Even stranger, the founders didn’t seem to be…

Watch Apple kick off WWDC 2024 right here

The keynote will be focused on Apple’s software offerings and the developers that power them, including the latest versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS and watchOS.

Startups Weekly: Ups, downs, and silver linings

Welcome to Startups Weekly — Haje’s weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Anna will be covering for him this week. Sign up here to…

BlackRock has slashed the value of stake in Byju’s, once worth $22 billion, to zero

HSBC and BlackRock estimate that the Indian edtech giant Byju’s, once valued at $22 billion, is now worth nothing.

Apple’s generative AI offering might not work with the standard iPhone 15

Apple is set to board the runaway locomotive that is generative AI at next week’s World Wide Developer Conference. Reports thus far have pointed to a partnership with OpenAI that…

LinkedIn to limit targeted ads in EU after complaint over sensitive data use

LinkedIn has confirmed it will no longer allow advertisers to target users based on data gleaned from their participation in LinkedIn Groups. The move comes more than three months after…

Startup Battlefield 200 applications due Monday

Founders: Need plans this weekend? What better way to spend your time than applying to this year’s Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt. With Monday’s deadline looming, this is a…

Novel battery manufacturer EnerVenue is raising $515M, per filing

The company is in the process of building a gigawatt-scale factory in Kentucky to produce its nickel-hydrogen batteries.

Meta quietly rolls out Communities on Messenger

Meta is quietly rolling out a new “Communities” feature on Messenger, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature is designed to help organizations, schools and other private groups communicate in…

Siri and Google Assistant look to generative AI for a new lease on life

Voice assistants in general are having an existential moment, and generative AI is poised to be the logical successor.

Bain to take K-12 education software provider PowerSchool private in $5.6B deal

Education software provider PowerSchool is being taken private by investment firm Bain Capital in a $5.6 billion deal.

Shopify acquires Threads (no, not that one)

Shopify has acquired Threads.com, the Sequoia-backed Slack alternative, Threads said on its website. The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal but said that the Threads.com team will join…

Bangladeshi police agents accused of selling citizens’ personal information on Telegram

Two senior police officials in Bangladesh are accused of collecting and selling citizens’ personal information to criminals on Telegram.