Promotion of independent physical activity (PA) is indispensable for resolution of various health issues in childhood. Recently in Japan, however, concern has been raised about decreased levels of independent PA among children. The present study was therefore conducted to examine the current situation of independent PA in elementary school students during school recess, and the factors affecting it. The study participants were 1,059 3rd grade to 6th grade children (536 boys and 523 girls) attending 7 elementary schools in Japan. Research was conducted at participating elementary schools between October and November 2015. All the data were collected using an original questionnaire that asked about living conditions, independent PA during recesses, the school environment, and other issues. The reported rates of independent PA during the lunch recess were in excess of 50% (50.8-62.6%) , suggesting that a relatively large proportion of time was secured for this purpose regardless of gender and school grade. However, the rates for before-class recess (18.4-56.4%) and morning recess (22.6-68.3%) were not particularly high, although there were large variations according to gender and school grade. With regard to before-class recess, “gender” and “desired place to play” were extracted as factors affecting the occurrence of independent PA. Similarly, for morning recess, “gender”, “school grade”, “desired place to play”, and “desired equipment for play”, and for lunch recess, “desired equipment for play”, “classroom floor”, and “likes and dislikes for PA” were extracted as factors determining the occurrence of independent PA. These findings suggest that improvement of physical environmental factors could promote independent PA of children during school recesses.
