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Adobe Stock
A bill that would require schools to institute a daily break for all students between the grades of kindergarten through fifth grade has been assigned to the House’s Elementary & Secondary Education School Curriculum & Policies Committee.
Sponsored by Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin (D-Chicago), House Bill 0931 stipulates that the break be a minimum of 20 minutes long and at least partly consist of unstructured play that may include games of some sort. The bill would also give school boards the option of instituting a similar break for students in grades six to eight.
If the measure passes, the law is slated to go into effect on July 1 of this year.
As of 2017, a StateofObesity.org report found that Illinois has an obesity rate of roughly 15 percent among 2-year-olds to high school students. Overall, 10- to 17-year-olds had the highest rates of obesity at 16.2 percent.
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