Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this paper is to review relationships of academic performance and some of its determinants to participation in school-based physical activities, including physical education (PE), free school physical activity (PA) and...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2008-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity |
| Online Access: | http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/5/1/10 |
| _version_ | 1818759611934572544 |
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| author | Shephard Roy J Trudeau François |
| author_facet | Shephard Roy J Trudeau François |
| author_sort | Shephard Roy J |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this paper is to review relationships of academic performance and some of its determinants to participation in school-based physical activities, including physical education (PE), free school physical activity (PA) and school sports.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Linkages between academic achievement and involvement in PE, school PA and sport programmes have been examined, based on a systematic review of currently available literature, including a comprehensive search of MEDLINE (1966 to 2007), PSYCHINFO (1974 to 2007), SCHOLAR.GOOGLE.COM, and ERIC databases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Quasi-experimental data indicate that allocating up to an additional hour per day of curricular time to PA programmes does not affect the academic performance of primary school students negatively, even though the time allocated to other subjects usually shows a corresponding reduction. An additional curricular emphasis on PE may result in small absolute gains in grade point average (GPA), and such findings strongly suggest a relative increase in performance per unit of academic teaching time. Further, the overwhelmingly majority of such programmes have demonstrated an improvement in some measures of physical fitness (PF). Cross-sectional observations show a positive association between academic performance and PA, but PF does not seem to show such an association. PA has positive influences on concentration, memory and classroom behaviour. Data from quasi-experimental studies find support in mechanistic experiments on cognitive function, pointing to a positive relationship between PA and intellectual performance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Given competent providers, PA can be added to the school curriculum by taking time from other subjects without risk of hindering student academic achievement. On the other hand, adding time to "academic" or "curricular" subjects by taking time from physical education programmes does not enhance grades in these subjects and may be detrimental to health.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:45:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-59988d0a61494afe8d60b4748127d8fa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1479-5868 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:45:29Z |
| publishDate | 2008-02-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity |
| spelling | doaj.art-59988d0a61494afe8d60b4748127d8fa2022-12-21T21:17:30ZengBMCInternational Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity1479-58682008-02-01511010.1186/1479-5868-5-10Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performanceShephard Roy JTrudeau François<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this paper is to review relationships of academic performance and some of its determinants to participation in school-based physical activities, including physical education (PE), free school physical activity (PA) and school sports.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Linkages between academic achievement and involvement in PE, school PA and sport programmes have been examined, based on a systematic review of currently available literature, including a comprehensive search of MEDLINE (1966 to 2007), PSYCHINFO (1974 to 2007), SCHOLAR.GOOGLE.COM, and ERIC databases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Quasi-experimental data indicate that allocating up to an additional hour per day of curricular time to PA programmes does not affect the academic performance of primary school students negatively, even though the time allocated to other subjects usually shows a corresponding reduction. An additional curricular emphasis on PE may result in small absolute gains in grade point average (GPA), and such findings strongly suggest a relative increase in performance per unit of academic teaching time. Further, the overwhelmingly majority of such programmes have demonstrated an improvement in some measures of physical fitness (PF). Cross-sectional observations show a positive association between academic performance and PA, but PF does not seem to show such an association. PA has positive influences on concentration, memory and classroom behaviour. Data from quasi-experimental studies find support in mechanistic experiments on cognitive function, pointing to a positive relationship between PA and intellectual performance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Given competent providers, PA can be added to the school curriculum by taking time from other subjects without risk of hindering student academic achievement. On the other hand, adding time to "academic" or "curricular" subjects by taking time from physical education programmes does not enhance grades in these subjects and may be detrimental to health.</p>http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/5/1/10 |
| spellingShingle | Shephard Roy J Trudeau François Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity |
| title | Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance |
| title_full | Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance |
| title_fullStr | Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance |
| title_short | Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance |
| title_sort | physical education school physical activity school sports and academic performance |
| url | http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/5/1/10 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shephardroyj physicaleducationschoolphysicalactivityschoolsportsandacademicperformance AT trudeaufrancois physicaleducationschoolphysicalactivityschoolsportsandacademicperformance |