Associations of Physical Fitness and Academic Performance Among Schoolchildren*

Dusen, Duncan P. Van; Kelder, Steven H.; Kohl, Harold W.; Ranjit, Nalini; Perry, Cheryl L.

doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00652.x

Cited by 152 publications

(199 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Nonetheless, and despite the plausibility of neurophysiological arguments, evidence of the relationship between AA and CRF and also between AA and PA remains weak (Hillman et al, 2008) and uncertain (TorrijosNiño et al, 2014). Thus to have more robust results on this topic confounding factors such as socio-economic status (SES) and gender and school grade, among others, need to be studied (Active Living Research, 2015;Van Dusen et al, 2011) and objective measures of PA must be considered (Castelli et al, 2007;Esteban-Cornejo et al, 2014a). Studies examining broad age ranges are rare and few studies have specifically examined this issue in Portuguese samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiorespiratory fitness, but not physical activity, is associated with academic achievement in children and adolescents

Oliveira

Pizarro

Costa

et al. 2017

Annals of Human Biology

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Background: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and physical activity (PA) seem to have positive effects on academic achievement (AA), although in most studies, objective methods of assessment have not been used. Aim: To examine the associations of CRF and PA with AA. Subjects and methods: A sample of 640 youngsters (10-18 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. CRF was estimated with the 20-metre shuttle run test and PA was measured using accelerometers. School grades were used to describe AA using mathematics and native language final grades. The relationship between CRF and PA with AA was analysed using ANCOVA. Results: Results show a significant effect of CRF levels on native language grades, after adjustment for confounders [F(3,414) ¼ 3,99 p < 0.05], but not for mathematics [F(3,360) ¼ 0.95 p > 0.05]. No significant effects of PA levels on AA were found. Conclusions: CRF is associated with moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and higher levels of CRF may influence AA. CRF is positively correlated with MVPA, suggesting that higher amounts of MVPA might improve CRF and indirectly influence AA. Since CRF is dependent on higher intensities of PA, we can suggest a focus on implementing improvement strategies to increase the intensity of physical education lessons.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiorespiratory fitness, but not physical activity, is associated with academic achievement in children and adolescents

Oliveira

Pizarro

Costa

et al. 2017

Annals of Human Biology

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“…Year of study 1st year 545 (47) 177 (51) 368 (45) 0.019 2nd year 341 (29) 106 (31) 235 (29) 3rd year 248 (21) 54 (16) 194 (24) ≥ 4th year 23 (2) 6 (2) 17 (2) Age (years) (14) 50 (14) 107 (13) Much worse 20 (2) 13 (4) 7 (1) had normal BMI (healthy weight), and females were significantly more likely to report normal BMI. The majority of students rated their health as excellent/very good/good; reported being health aware very much/to some extent; and rated their quality of life as very well/quite well, although there were significant gender differences across all these variables.…”

Section: Socio-demographicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Very little research on aspects of university students' PA has been undertaken in Finland and the very few studies that undertook such a task frequently used small samples (27). This is despite that PA and physical inactivity are well-known protective and risk factors respectively for many chronic conditions; and, in school settings, movement can promote children's cognitive development (28), triggering the need to evaluate the fitness-academic performance connections (29). Since 2000, a national university student health survey in Finland was carried out only four times (30); and there is a dearth of government or country reports dedicated to the topic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlates of Achieving the Guidelines of Four Forms of Physical Activity, and the Relationship between Guidelines Achievement and Academic Performance: Undergraduate Students in Finland

Ansari

Suominen

Draper

2017

Cent Eur J Public Health

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SUMMARY Objectives:We surveyed and compared, by gender, the levels and correlates of achieving the international guidelines of four forms of physical activity (PA): moderate PA (MPA), vigorous PA (VPA), moderate or vigorous PA (MVPA), and muscle strengthening PA (MSPA). The study assessed the associations between achieving the guidelines of the four PA forms and a range of socio-demographic, health and academic performance variables.Methods: Data was collected across the seven faculties of the University of Turku (2013-2014 from a representative sample of 1,189 undergraduates). An English language online self-administered questionnaire assessed frequency and duration of PA/week for each form of PA. We employed cut-offs for the guidelines in accordance with the American Heart Association. Chi-square statistic tested the differences in PA, socio-demographic variables and academic performance between males and females. Binary logistic regression examined the factors associated with achieving the four PA guidelines and linear regression examined the association between the frequency of PA and academic performance.Results: Achievement of PA guidelines was relatively low across the sample. Female students were less likely to achieve the VPA or MSPA guidelines, but were more health conscious and in generally exhibited better academic performace than males. High health awareness and excellent/ very good self-rated health were the strongest predictors of achieving all forms of PA. Parents' education level was positively related to likelihood of achieving the VPA, MVPA and MSPA guidelines. Achieving the MPA guidelines (but not VPA or MSPA) was positively associated with subjective perceptions of better academic performance.Conclusions: Achievement of PA guidelines was generally low for this sample of Finnish students, and was associated with positive health status and high health awareness. Universities need a holistic approach to improve awareness of health and promote PA in students' lifestyles.

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“…Additional research has found students with low levels of fitness also exhibit low academic scores on achievement tests [17,18]. In particular, it has been reported that children with low levels of fitness exhibit low scores for reading and/or math [19,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It’s Not Me, It’s You: The Disconnect of Physical Education Teachers to Physical Activity in the Gym

Culpepper

Killion

2015

Sports

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Abstract:American adults and an increasing number of children, are not meeting the recommended amounts of daily physical activity. Research has documented the effects of low activity on health and increasingly new research has shown that low activity levels now impact academic achievement. Physical education (PE) can play an important role if the children participating are obtaining enough physical activity while in class and the PE program has not been targeted with cutbacks. The purpose of this study was to identify the amount and intensity of activity in PE classes. The results indicate that on average students at all levels are not meeting the activity requirements. In addition, PE teachers' perceptions of physical activity in their own class does not match actual activity levels. PE teachers must do a better job of increasing activity levels in their classrooms. Mounting research indicates students perform better academically if they are physically active. PE is the only subject where teachers can organize activities that meet both activity and intensity requirements.

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Associations of Physical Fitness and Academic Performance Among Schoolchildren*

Cited by 152 publications

References 14 publications

Cardiorespiratory fitness, but not physical activity, is associated with academic achievement in children and adolescents

Cardiorespiratory fitness, but not physical activity, is associated with academic achievement in children and adolescents

Correlates of Achieving the Guidelines of Four Forms of Physical Activity, and the Relationship between Guidelines Achievement and Academic Performance: Undergraduate Students in Finland

It’s Not Me, It’s You: The Disconnect of Physical Education Teachers to Physical Activity in the Gym

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