Associations Between Physical Activity and Perceived School Performance of Young Adolescents in Health Behavior in School-Aged Children Countries

Abstract

Background: Regular physical activity and doing well in school are important for growing adolescents. In this study, the associations between physical activity and perceived school performance (PSP) are examined together. Methods: Young adolescents from 42 countries (n = 193,949) in Europe and Canada were examined for associations between self-reported moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and PSP. Multinominal analyses were conducted with 0 to 2 days of MVPA and below average PSP as reference categories. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were reported for pooled data and individual countries after controlling for family affluence scale. Results: Girls had better PSP than boys, yet more boys participated in daily MVPA than girls. The associations between PSP and MVPA were inverted U shaped. The strongest association for very good PSP was among young adolescents who reported 5 to 6 days MVPA (odds ratios = 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.1–2.4) after controlling for family affluence scale. Conclusions: Young adolescents with average or better PSP took part in at least 3 days of MVPA in a week, suggesting that participating in some MVPA was positively associated with PSP. More days of MVPA in a week, especially for young adolescents with below average PSP, would be beneficial for health and school performance.

Analysis of the psychometric properties of the five-factor self-concept questionnaire (AF-5) in Spanish students during the COVID-19 lockdown

“…Moreover, the family and emotional-physical dimensions of the original version of the questionnaire were found to be the most robust in the present study as all relevant factors were coherent with no items, therefore, having to be removed. This is supported by findings of studies conducted by Bachner et al ( 2020 ) and Ng et al ( 2020 ) who stated that family is a decisive element during potentially harmful situations. In this way, given that in the present study setting young individuals were confined at home with their guardians, family took on a critical role.…”

“…Individuals’ home environment may explain this since a higher family self-concept strengthens emotions and social relations. In this way, family becomes a pivotal element of student’s happiness, ability to relate socially and engagement in physical activity (Ng et al, 2020 ; Verrastro et al, 2020 ; Villarejo et al, 2020 ). There was also a moderate positive association between social and academic components.…”

Socio-ecological correlates of physical activity in a nationally representative sample of adolescents across Ireland and Northern Ireland

“…Self-reported habitual MVPA was assessed by the number of days during the past 7, and for a typical week, that participants accumulated at least 60 min of MVPA, yielding a composite average of the two items. This measure provides useful comparative data worldwide ( Guthold et al, 2020 , Biddle et al, 2011 , Ng et al, 2020 ), is reliable (ICC = 0.76) and demonstrates acceptable validity (r = 0.34; n = 235), when compared with accelerometer determined PA ( Hardie Murphy et al, 2015 , Murphy et al, 2017 . Adolescents were categorised as daily active (60mins.MVPA.7 days), active (60mins.MVPA.5–6 days), somewhat active (60mins.MVPA.3–4 days) or inactive (60mins.MVPA.0–2 days), with moderate intra-rater reliability scores when categorised into these four groups (r = 0.50) ( Ng et al, 2019 ).…”

Active Transport to School May Reduce Psychosomatic Symptoms in School-Aged Children: Data from Nine Countries

“…A physically active life and avoiding long episodes of sedentary behaviour help prevent non-specific health complaints and improve well-being among adolescents [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. A study involving over 171,000 teenagers from 37 countries revealed that young people who lead physically active, healthy lifestyles experience psychosomatic symptoms less frequently [ 9 ].…”