Background China’s national school health policies face persistent implementation gaps, particularly in rural high schools prioritizing Gaokao. National surveys (2010–2019) documented alarming fitness declines: 50-m sprint speeds decreased (+0.3s boys; + 0.4s girls), pull-ups/sit-ups fell 29%/20%, and standing jumps shortened 6–7 cm. Methods A 16-week cluster quasi-experiment assigned intact rural high school classes (N = 98; age = 16.35 ± 0.48years) to: • Experimental (n = 50): Feature Recess-Time Sports Activities (FRTSA; 5x30-min/week). • Control (n = 48): Standard supervised running. Blinded assessors conducted the National Student Physical Health Standard tests. Results FRTSA elicited significant improvements versus control: • Speed: 50-m sprint ( p 0.05, d ≤ 0.18). Conclusion FRTSA is effective in enhancing speed, explosive power, flexibility, and strength, supporting policy integration of structured activity programs in rural schools.
Huang et al. (2026) studied this question.