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 The study team analyzed data from 26 previously published studies
with a total of more than 10,000 children between 4 and 13 years
old. All of the prior studies measured the impact of a variety of
physical activity programs on academic performance.
The authors also looked at whether the effect of exercise differed
across academic subjects. Although the benefit of physical activity
was strongest for mathematics, it was only slightly smaller for
other subjects like language and reading, meaning that physical
activity benefits learning in all academic subjects.
“Exercise influences the brain by increasing cerebral blood flow,
which increases the supply of oxygen and nutrients and promotes
blood capillaries formation, increases the neuronal connectivity
through the promotion of the synaptogenesis and the availability of
neurotransmitters,” said study coauthor Ivan Cavero Redondo of
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Cuenca, Spain.
“Beyond the neurobiological explanations, exercise includes an
important social component that fosters its benefits on mental
health,” Redondo said by email.
At a time when many schools struggle to set aside time for gym
classes amid a push to raise test scores by devoting more time to
academics, the findings offer fresh evidence that physical activity
is one way to help boost kids’ grades.
When kids take time out of the school day for physical activity,
whether in dedicated gym classes or by incorporating movement into
classroom lessons, students may have an easier time focusing on
their classwork and do better in school, Redondo said.
Overall, physical activity appeared to have the biggest impact on
keeping kids on task and focused on their work, the study found.
Students who participated in various experimental exercise programs
also did better at math, reading and language lessons than their
peers who didn’t participate in these programs.
Exercise had a bigger impact on school performance when it was
incorporated into the school day than when it was added as an
extracurricular activity, researchers report in Pediatrics.
The experimental exercise programs tested in the smaller studies
increased physical activity time from 10 minutes to 60 minutes per
day.
Sometimes these programs expanded recess, while in other instances
the added activity was achieved with after-school sports or creating
active breaks between lessons during the school day.
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One limitation of the study was that researchers lacked enough data
from a large enough group of participants to determine which types
of physical activity interventions might have the biggest impact on
academics and school achievement, the authors note.
Even so, the analysis offers convincing evidence that physical
activity can enhance children’s reading and math skills, said Sara
Benjamin Neelon, a researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health in Baltimore who wasn’t involved in the study.
“Schools need to get on board and prioritize active time for
children both during and after the school day,” Benjamin Neelon said
by email. “Kids spend a large portion of their waking hours at
school and should spend at least part of that time being physically
active.”
Physical activity may help kids do better in school by improving
behavior, memory and cognitive function, said Jordan Carlson, a
researcher at Children’s Mercy Kansas City who wasn’t involved in
the study.
“A substantial amount of evidence shows that physical activity
improves kids’ attention and behavior in the classroom and reduces
classroom disruptions,” Carlson said by email. “Kids have an
internal drive to be physically active, and inhibiting their need to
be physically active during school can lead to behavioral problems.”
Because kids often get too little exercise time during the school
day, parents need to provide these opportunities outside of school,
Carlson added.
“However, the beneficial effect of physical activity on academic
achievement appears to be specific to school-based physical
activity,” Carlson said. “Parents should talk with their children,
teachers, and administrators about opportunities for physical
activity at school.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2kavwvg Pediatrics, online November 24, 2017.
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