What do you think of putting treadmill desks in schools?

[Kevin]

I don't think the question is whether exercise is good for your health. That's well proven.

Nor is the question whether being healthy is good for your education. I suspect that's also true.

The question is: How much does being on a treadmill all day help or hurt a child's education?

-Jester

Afterthought: That bouncy ball study appears to have had exactly three students. Statistically, with an n of three, I wouldn't be comfortable concluding that outcomes were improved by being on a bouncy ball. Especially when your outcome is "legible words they wrote".

This is important in part because not all exercise is equal and not all humans have the same physiology. Walking on a treadmill and being able to perform most tasks is likely to only have you at a zone 1 heart rate. This does very little for building a foundation or increasing health. It certainly doesn't hurt, and can help some and does help maintain. It's also good for recovery (rest is just as important as exercise).

You need to get into zone 2 to really trigger increased mitochondria production. That's what allows you to "do more with less"; you can perform the same tasks at a lower average heart rate, the human body is always trying to become more efficient at what you make it do. 30 minutes a day in zone 2 is going to do a lot more for most people than 3 hours in zone 1 would. You also need to not be in zone 4 or higher too frequently, over training can be detrimental and take years off your life too. This is of course why 30 minutes of PE a day generally doesn't cut it because it's often not in the most beneficial areas.

Of course most of what I'm quoting is for adults, I haven't looked at studies on children whose bodies are still developing. So I think it would be important to have a specific study on the treadmills themselves as Jester mentions. I'm convinced it will be better than just sitting, I'm not convinced that it's the best use of resources to achieve the goals you want.