Active Kids are Fit to Learn: Shining a light on the relationship between physical activity, learning and academic performance

In an effort to increase students’ academic performance, many schools are choosing to reduce physical education (PE) requirements and even the time allocated for recess. However, no empirical evidence has suggested that academic performance is hindered in any way by regular participation in PE and physical activity. In fact, the majority of empirical evidence suggests the opposite is true – that academic performance is improved by engagement in regular physical activity.

Reference citations for all information below can be found in the complete long-form Report Card

Several mechanisms by which physical activity affects academic performance

A thorough review of the potential mechanisms by which physical activity and exercise improve academic performance is beyond the scope of the Report Card. Essentially, the association is mediated through improvements in cognitive or behavioural function. In animal models, physical activity enhances memory and learning, promotes the generation of new nerve cells in the brain (neurogenesis) and protects the nervous system from injury and disease. In clinical studies, exercise increases brain volume in areas implicated in executive processing, improves cognition in children with cerebral palsy, and enhances phonemic skills in children with reading difficulties. It is also possible that the link between physical activity and academic performance is indirect and via improvements in self-esteem and/or classroom behaviour and attention span.

Re-allocating time from academic subjects to physical education does not harm

A thorough review of this topic area led a group of Canadian researchers to conclude that school-based physical activity, (PE instruction, free play or school sport) could “become a consistent component of physical activity to meet current guidelines for children and adolescents without impairing academic performance, even if curricular time for so-called academic subjects is curtailed.” (Trudeau F, Shephard R. Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2008;5).

Such findings are not new in Canada. A study completed in Quebec in the 1970s found that students provided with 5 hours of PE per week had a higher academic performance than their control counterparts who received only 40 minutes per week. Recently, researchers in British Columbia observed that the academic scores of students receiving more physical activity instruction per week, and therefore less academic time, remain unchanged. In fact, these data demonstrated a trend toward enhanced academic performance in the intervention group despite a reduction in academic subject curricular time. In Ontario, an examination of the effect of a comprehensive school health model on academic performance showed that increased focus on students’ health in schools led to positive changes in their academic performance, as measured by Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) test scores.

Research studies from around the world are observing the same trends. In California, a group of students in grades 5 and 6 were taught PE either by staff trained in PE, a trained homeroom teacher or a regular classroom teacher. Those taught by the staff trained in PE spent more time being active, had greater improvements in fitness and had smaller declines in academic performance compared to the other two groups who spent more time in academic instruction. Similarly, when 1.25 hours per day of endurance fitness training was added to the daily curriculum of a group of young Australian students, math and reading scores were not adversely affected by a substantial reallocation of curricular time in favour of PE. A follow-up study in the same population two years later revealed that the academic benefits persisted. Finally, an American study observed that Grade 6 students receiving 55 minutes or more of daily PE performed equally well in math, science and English when compared to a group spending those 55 minutes in classrooms. Cross-sectional observations have also shown positive associations between PE and academic performance. The US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health showed that adolescents who were active in school were more likely to have high grades, even after adjustment for socio-economic status. A gender difference emerged in younger children (kindergarten to Grade 5) whereby higher amounts of PE were associated with academic benefit in girls; no such trend emerged in boys.

Physical activity and fitness are positively associated with academic performance

In addition to the findings on PE and academic performance, there is research to suggest that physical activity and fitness are also positively related to academic performance. For example, one study found that adolescents who reported higher levels of daily exercise also reported having higher grades. Academic performance has also been positively related to directly measured physical fitness scores in children. In addition, a meta-analysis has found a positive relation between physical activity and cognitive performance (e.g., perceptual skills, intelligence quotient, achievement, verbal tests, mathematics, developmental level/academic readiness) in school-aged children.

Being sedentary is associated with low academic performance in children

Sedentary time spent in front of screens is increasingly pervasive in the lives of children and youth. A comprehensive analysis of the media’s impact on children’s health, completed in November 2008, provides some critical insights into how being inactive might be impacting academic performance. Thirty-one studies evaluated media and academic performance, and 65% reported a significant association between increased media exposure and poor academic outcomes. Of the 26 studies that examined the effect of watching TV, 62% reported a strong link between greater media exposure and lower academic performance. Interestingly, the likelihood of earning a bachelor’s degree (or higher) by age 26 decreased as the mean hours of TV per weekday increased between the ages of 5 and 15 years.

Figure 1: The impact of watching TV during childhood and adolescence on the likelihood of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher by age 26.

Conclusions

• There is now a substantial evidence base from Canada and around the world to show that participation in PE and physical activity at school does not hinder academic performance. By contrast, there is reason to suggest that physical activity can lead to improvements in academic performance.
• Previous Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Cards have raised a red flag about screen time and its association with physical inactivity, obesity, and poor physical and mental health. We are raising this red flag once again. The timely and critical review of screen time empowers us with the evidence we need as a society to take drastic action on the amount of leisure time children and youth are spending in front of television, gaming and computer screens.
• We encourage the reader to pay particular attention to the disparities in physical activity participation highlighted throughout the Report Card (e.g., among children with disabilities, children from low socio-economic status backgrounds, Aboriginal children and youth). Not only are these children and youth not receiving cardiovascular and musculoskeletal benefits from physical activity, they are also not accumulating the associated cognitive and behavioural benefits.

This summary of current knowledge on the link between physical activity and academic performance should negate any rationale proposed to limit PE and physical activity programs in an attempt to improve academic outcomes. Parents, teachers and policy-makers concerned about decreases in study time may be “better advised to question the time their children spend on watching TV and playing computer games rather than the time that they devote to PE, physical activity or sports in school.” (Trudeau F, Shephard R. Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2008;5).

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