Short physical activity break may boost child's fitness
London, May 11: Motivating schoolchildren to take a 15-minute break from class to do physical activity may boost their health and fitness levels, a new study suggests.
The study examined the effectiveness of the popular Daily Mile initiative - which involves children taking a 15-minute break from class to do physical activity.
The findings, published in the journal BMC Medicine, indicate that The Daily Mile can help combat global problems such as low physical activity, high sedentary behaviour, declining fitness levels and high levels of obesity.
"Our research observed positive changes in children who participated in The Daily Mile intervention, compared to our control school where the scheme was not introduced," said one of the study authors Colin Moran from the University of Stirling in Britain.
The Daily Mile was founded in February 2012 by Elaine Wyllie, the then headteacher of St Ninians Primary School in Stirling, to improve the fitness of her pupils.
Children are encouraged to run, jog or walk around their school grounds during a 15-minute break from class, which is in addition to normal intervals and physical education lessons.
The study involved 391 pupils, aged between four and 12. Each child underwent an initial assessment and then a follow-up later in the academic year.
Between times, one school implemented The Daily Mile, while pupils at the other -- known as the control school -- followed their usual curriculum.
Children wore accelerometers to record their average daily minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and average daily sedentary behaviour.
They also had skinfold measurements taken to check body fat, and were assessed on their performance at a multistage fitness test (known as a bleep test or shuttle run), where they ran between cones 20 metres apart between bleeps.
The team witnessed significant improvements in the intervention school, relative to the control school, the researcher said.
"We observed a relative increase of 9.1 minutes per day in terms of MPVA and a relative decrease of 18.2 minutes per day in sedentary time," said study co-author Naomi Brooks from the University of Stirling.
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Board meet to appoint Neville Tata on Sir Ratan Tata Trust as trustee cancelled
New Delhi (PTI): A proposed board meeting of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), which was supposed to take up the appointment of Neville Tata, son of Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata, as a trustee on Saturday is understood to have been cancelled due to lack of quorum.
The cancellation of the meeting comes over two months after the failure of the first attempt to induct Neville Tata on the board of SRTT, which holds 23.6 per cent in Tata Sons, the promoter holding firm of the over USD 180 billion Tata Group.
"All trustees could not attend, which is a requirement for trustee appointment," a person with direct knowledge of the development said.
The meeting could be rescheduled in the next few days, the person added.
However, others said the cancellation could be to take more time for discussion among the trustees to reach a consensus on the appointment.
Query to Tata Trusts remained unanswered.
The trustees of SRTT are Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh Jimmy N Tata, Jehangir HC Jehangir and Darius Khambata.
In November last, Neville Tata and former group company leader Bhaskar Bhat were appointed to the Sri Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), which owns 28 per cent in Tata Sons. However, they couldn't be appointed to the SRTT, which holds 23.6 per cent in Tata Sons. Other Tata-affiliated trusts own 13.8 per cent in Tata Sons.
It was apparently because of an objection raised by Venu Srinivasan.
Srinivasan, who was unanimously made lifelong trustee in October 2025, had to witness his appointment revisited "in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements".
The Maharashtra government had in September 2025 amended the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, thereby limiting the number of lifetime trustees to one-fourth of the board strength and mandated fixed terms where trust deeds are silent.
