The Impact Of Physical Activity On Academic Achievement And Health Of Primary Aged Students Essay

Sports can teach kids life lessons for the future and through education. According to the website Edutopia (2017), there is a connection between physical activity and academic performance. “Studies have shown a direct correlation between physical activity and academic performance. A University of Kansas study looking at the performance of students in grades 9 to 12 showed that more than 97% of student-athletes graduated high school, 10% higher than those students who had never participated in sports. Athletes were also shown to have better G.P.A. outcomes than non-athletes.” They say that it may be because physical activity

John F Kennedy once said, “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” He believed that a person who has conditioned their body will exceed when striving towards intellectual achievements. Parents across America have seen the influence that physical exercise can have on students. After school physical education programs, such as sports, not only condition the students to maintain physical health, they also work with teachers to make sure the mind is also being conditioned through learning. Students who participate in school sports are required to maintain their grades to academic standards to be able to participate in the activity. Even

Physical activity also has benefits for children's social and emotional development and cognitive development. These benefits include being part of a team and making friends through group sports, which have a major impact on social and emotional development. The effect of obesity on children is closely linked to many bad health habits such as diet, smoking and drug use which in turn can affect a child's academic performance (Goran et al., 1999). Physical activity, if encouraged at a young age, can reduce the likelihood of children developing these behaviours and focus on their academic performance and cognitive development. As children in this age range are in their fundamental development stage, it is important that educators and parents alike, teach children about the importance of physical activity at a young age in order to prevent health and social well-being problems in their adult years.

Throughout my time on placement in primary schools over the past four years, I have witnessed a variety of teaching strategies to get students motivated and ready for school in the morning. One approach I have seen in several schools is ‘huff n’ puff’, a morning activity in which students engage in some form of physical exercise, which may include running or active games outside. I believed this to be an effective strategy to release some energy and get the students settled down to learn. However, having a psychology background, I am interested to ascertain whether this morning physical activity has an influence on student mental wellbeing during the school day. I have noted mixed reactions to ‘huff n’ puff’ amongst students at my placement schools and I have wondered whether physical activity could positively or negatively impact student mental wellbeing due to confidence and self-esteem. According to the results of the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, mental health disorders are prevalent amongst Australian children (13.9%) (Lawrence et al. 2016). With mental wellbeing being a potential issue in the classroom, I am, therefore, interested to discover whether exercise has an influence on student mental wellbeing. Problems with mental wellbeing may have a

As time goes on, physical activity is becoming an average person’s second priority. The rise of technology allows people to do many everyday tasks within their own home. The ability to get almost anything delivered straight to a person’s house with a push of a button promotes an inactive lifestyle. While this can be seen as progressive in a technological standpoint, it completely disregards humankind’s need to perform physical activity. Due to the rise of a technology-based lifestyle, many schools tend to disregard the importance of physical education. Physical activity is beneficial in many different aspects of health, like mental health. Physical activity is important for more than a person’s physical health, it also influences their different behaviors. Young kids need physical activity ingrained into their everyday lifestyle in order to normally function because it is so essential to other aspects of a human being. Other than health, physical activity improves kids’ academics. Modern society is focusing more on academic success rather than the students’ health, when in reality, health is crucial to a student’s success. Schools are beginning to disregard the importance of exercise and only focus on knowledge. Physical activity should be prioritized in a student’s life because it affects scholastic performance by improving a person’s mental health,

Research shows that students who do regular physical activity demonstrate improved academic achievement and increased productivity, and are able to devote attention to tasks for longer periods of time. There is also evidence that students show improved behaviour and self-esteem, and are able to engage in positive social interaction. Establishing healthy habits and routines in a supportive environment can also enable students to develop an improved sense of belonging and connectedness to the school environment.

Evidence from multiple studies and research reviews suggest that physical activity improves many academic outcomes including overall academic success cognitive performance, reading and math skills, increased on-task classroom behavior, creation of positive learning experiences for students, and improved levels of concentration (Sarah Bennes, 2016). Students are physically inactive, with up to potentially six hours a day of sedentary behavior. The Whitehouse Task Force has called upon schools to adopt policies and implement strategies to increase the physical activity levels of students (Furmanek, 2014).

Students who exercise regularly tends to have an effect on their academic performance. However, students who does not make time on exercise performs poorly in academics. Many students who exercise tends to have better grades than those who do not. Hence, the researcher supposes that regular exercise can affect the academic performance of a student mainly by aerobic and anaerobic exercises. To prove this point, the researcher starts with the definition of exercise and its different types. Then, he discusses the effects of exercise on

Perhaps the most easily observed factor, physical education is absolutely vital to physical development. According to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition’s website, only one third of children participate in sports outside of school. This means

In addition to keeping children healthy and fit, exercise benefits students in the classroom too. In a meta-analysis, Sibley and Etnier found a positive correlation between physical activity and cognition in school-age youth (aged 4-18), suggesting that physical activity is related to cognitive outcomes during development (Physical Activity, Fitness, and Physical Education: Effects on Academic Performance). The Centers for

- Through multiple tests, physical activity and physical fitness has been proved to improve academic performance. One example of a test used to prove this theory was when a seminal research was conducted by Gabbard and Barton (1979). This experiment consisted of six different conditions of physical activity (no activity, 20, 30, 40, and 50 minutes) and was completed by 106 2nd graders during physical education. Each of the physical education sessions were followed by a 5 minute rest and then a completion of 36 math problems. The authors found a potential threshold effect when noticing that only the 50-minute condition improved in mathematical performance. Other experiments like this one have also been conducted to prove academic improvement from physical activity.

ABSTRACT It’s a well-known fact that physical activity and being healthy leads to a positive lifestyle. There have been numerous debates about the relationship between physical activity and a child’s academic achievement. In 1947 to 2009, 59 studies were used for the “comprehensive, quantitative synthesis of literature” (pg. 521) for data analysis. The results of the meta-analysis showed, a positive relationship between physical activity on student’s academics and “cognitive outcomes.” (pg.521) Many other factors affected the relationship and other methods to improve student’s academics and school policy. Introduction Physical education is no longer an important topic in elementary schools compared to other subjects such as math, science or language arts which have resulted in physical education being cut and replaced with more instructional time. Physical education is limited in the educational system due to legislative pushing towards more academic testing, which means additional instructional time and little time for physical activities. Children are recommended 30-60 minutes of physical activity per day, but some kids only receive physical activity during school hours and after school children are not as active which has resulted in sedentary activity and an increase in childhood obesity. Obesity and health-related issues have increased among children who have led to numerous research studies on the effects of physical activity and academic performance in children.

Regular participation in physical activity is linked to improved academic performance in various scientific studies.  According to Active Living Research, physical activity increases cognitive skills related to brain function, specifically attention and memory.  In a study comparing eleven and twelve-year-old students participating in physical education lessons to students who sat for the same amount of time, those who participated in the physical

Previous studies have found that higher physical activity levels are associated with greater academic achievement among students. However, it remains unclear whether associations are due to the physical activity itself or sports team participation, which may involve requirements for maintaining certain grades, for example. The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between sports team participation, physical activity, and academic outcomes in middle and high school students. Methods: Data were drawn from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), a survey of middle and high school students (n = 4746). Students self-reported their weekly hours of physical activity, sports team participation, and academic letter grades. Two statistical

Now that the arguments in the previous paragraph have been negated, it is necessary to highlight the advantages of sports participation on the academic success of high school students. In Australia, a recent study was carried out in 108 schools and this showed that out of 92% students who topped the class, 85% were actively involved in sports and despite the heavy training load managed to excel academically at school because they had good time management skills (5). To support that, another study was conducted by Lewis and his team to correlate high school sports participation and academic success among students in New York who were both passively and actively involved in extra-curricular activities such