PhysicalActivityandAcademicPerformance

EditedbyJaredDavis&AlexandraChazen,datacollectedbyMykaelaBarnes,Joshua
Lundblade,IanCourtney&AlanaHey
November19th,2014

ObesityhasbecomeacrisisamongtheyouthofAmerica.Infacttheoverallhealthof
ouryoungergenerationhasbeeninanunfortunatefluxuationforroughlythepasttwentyyears.
Therehasbeenanincreaseinchildhooddiabetes,obesityandotherdiseasesthatarecausedby
unhealthyinfluencesintheirlifeorlifestylechoices.Manychildrenaregrowingintoadultswho
arentawareofhowtotakecareforthemselves,contractingdiseasesotherwiseavoidableatan
earlyage.Asoursocietybecomesmoreandmoreobsessedwithtechnology,ourchildrenonly
becomemoresedentary.Adolescentsandchildrenarefittinglessandlessphysicalactivityinto
theirdailyroutine,whileimplementingmorejunkfoodintotheirdiet(Diamant,A.L.,Babey,
S.H.,&Wolstein,J.,2011).Thisiswhereschoolscancomeintoplace.Theyareagreat
resourceforeducation,socialinteraction,andmore.PhysicalActivityisimplementedinschools
becauseofitscollaborativeenvironment,makingiteasyforstudentsofallages,athleticability,
andincome(PublicHealthInstitute,2010).Howevertherehavebeenmajorsetbackswith
physicalactivityinschools.Themostsignificantofthesesetbackswouldbethepublic
educationsystemstightbudget.Foryearsnow,budgetconstraintshavemadeschoolscutdown
onmanyoftheirprograms.Unfortunately,physicaleducationandtimeforphysicalactivityare
thefirsttogo.Mostschoolsmakethisdecisionbecausetheirfundingcomesfromthe
standardizedtestscorestheirstudentsget(Diamant,A.L.,Babey,S.H.,&Wolstein,J.,2011).
Manyadministratorsthinkthatphysicalactivitymightevenhinderachildslearningabilityand
experience.Therefore,schoolsbelievethatthetimethatmightbeusedforP.Eandrecessis

betterspentlearningandpreparingforsaidteststogetbetterscores(PublicHealthInstitute,
2010).Contrarytothisdecisionistheideathatphysicaleducationanddailyactivitycanbe
beneficialtostudentsacademically.Infact,thereisevidencethatstudentswhoexercise
regularlydobetterontestsandhavebetterclassroomparticipationthanstudentswhodonot
partakeinregularphysicalexertion.Schoolsmightbesabotagingthemselvesandtheirstudents
byremovingphysicaleducationandactivityfromtheirstandardcurriculum.Evenbetterthan
thepossibilityofbettergradesistheknowledgethatourstudentswillbehealthierindividualson
theirwaytobeingablebodiedadults.
Asstatedpreviously,schoolscuttimeforphysicalactivitiesinordertofocuson
academics,astheybelievetheactivitiesmakesitdifficultforstudentstofocus.Thebreakinthe
dayorweekduetoP.Eisacommonexcuseamongstudentswhowanttogetoutofwork.
Schoolsalsofindthatitisdistractingforstudentstogetupandrunaboutforanhourandthensit
backdownandbeexpectedtowork.Headsofadministrationbelievethatphysicaleducationis
notjustawasteoftimeandresources,butahindrancetostudentswhowouldratherbesitting
andworking(PublicHealthInstitute,2010).Schoolsseemtohaveaverynegativeopinionon
physicalactivityinschools,whichhasonlybeensupportedbythereluctanceofstudentsoverthe
pastcoupleofyears.Toomanystudentsfindexcusesnottoparticipateinphysicalactivitythat
schoolsbelieveitisnotworththeefforttotryandgetstudentsinvolvedwithvisceralexertion.
Yet,thereisagooddealofevidencethatshowsusjusthowvaluablephysicalactivityisfor
students.Itshowsintheirgrades,testscoresandfitnesslevel(PodulkaCoe,Pivarnik,Womack,
Reeves,&Malina,2006).Basedonthis,manyarguethattherelationbetweenphysicalexertion
andacademicsispositiveratherthannegative.Severalstudiesgiveexamplesofthedifference

exercisehasonstudentlife.OnestudytookplaceinMichigan,where214sixthgraderswere
placedintotwodifferentgroups,onewhichexercisedalongwitharequiredphysicaleducation
andanotherwhosimplywentalongwiththeirregularP.Ecurriculum.Thosewhohadanhour
ofphysicaleducationinadditiontotheirdailyrequiredphysicaleducationclass,displayedbetter
academicperformancethanthosewhoonlyhadtheirregularP.Eclass(ActiveLivingResearch,
2007).However,thiswasonlyonestudy,andwhencomparedtomanysimilarstudies,the
resultsdontquiteaddup.Inmostcasestudiessuchasthis,physicalactivityshowedvirtually
littletonoeffectonastudentsgradesorscores(PodulkaCoe,Pivarnik,Womack,Reeves,&
Malina,2006).Usually,ifthereisanycorrelationbetweenacademicsandphysicalactivity,itis
showntobepositive.MichiganStateUniversityandTarletonStateUniversityhaveconducted
hundredsofstudiesinthissubject,andtheyreleasedastatementtellingthatonlyabouttwentyof
thehundredwieldedanynegativerelationbetweenthetwo(ActiveLivingResearch,2007).The
majorityofstudiesinthisfieldshownocorrelationofphysicalactivityandacademic
performance,butifandwhentheydo,itisusuallyapositiveresultinfavorofphysicalactivity.
Studentsarenotnegativelyaffectedbyphysicalactivityinschool.Exercisemaynotbe
thefastestwaytoimprovetestscores,ormaintainastudentsfocus,butitcertainlyhasits
benefits.Someofwhicharemorealertstudentsandaclearhead,pumpedwithadrenaline.
Confidenceappearstobegreateramongstudentswhoexerciseonaregularbasis,andsocial
skillsgrowasteamworkisbuiltamongclassmatesinP.E(PublicHealthInstitute,2010).
However,wemustrememberthatthegreatestadvantagegoesfartherthanacademics,itgoes
intoourchildrenshealth.Sincestudentsarerarelynegativelyaffectedbyphysicalactivityin

schoolsifatall,thereisagreaterbenefittoourfuturegenerationsbyprovidingawaytoleada
healthierlifestyleandthepossibilityofimprovedacademics.

Diamant,A.L.,Babey,S.H.,&Wolstein,J.(2011)AdolescentPhysicalEducationandPhysical
ActivityinCalifornia.LosAngeles,CA:UCLACenterforHealthPolicyResearch

PublicHealthInstitute.(2010).PhysicalEducationResearchforKids(PERK):AStudyforthe
CaliforniaTaskForceonYouthandWorkplaceWellness.Orangevale,CA.

Coe,D.P,Pivarnik,J.M,Womack,C.J,Reeves,M.J,andMalina,R.M.(2006).EffectofPhysical
EducationandActivityLevelsonAcademicAchievementinChildren.Medicine&ScienceinSports
&Exercise,38(8).

Trost,StewartG.,Johnson,W.RobertFoundation.(2007).ActiveEducation:PhysicalEducation,
PhysicalActivityandAcademicPerformance.