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If you wanted to increase students grades in basic subjects like math and English which would you choose. Adding more classroom time in those subjects or let the kids go outside and play? I know what you’re thinking. I need to spend more time in the classroom if I’m asking such a silly question. The obvious answer is spending more time studying math and English is how to increase grades in math and English. That’s the obvious answer, but is it the right answer?

You would think that spending more time focused on learning a subject would be enough to increase grades but you would be mistaken. What this research found was that students that had more time doing physical activity during school hours had higher academic performance. It did not matter that adding time for physical activity actually took time away from classroom work. It also did not matter what type of activity they did. Free play on a playground or organized physical education in the form of sport was equally beneficial to student’s grades.

Several different studies in this paper showed that increasing a child’s time doing physical activity by just an hour a day was enough to increase math and English scores. Children allowed time to be active during the day return to the classroom focused and less disruptive. It isn’t just that they are too tired to be a pain in the butt. Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain allowing it to function more efficiently. Being physically active also stimulates different areas of the brain from the feedback of the muscle activity. So they are calm, focused and ready to learn, not just exhausted and inattentive when they return to classroom work.

These effects are even greater in younger children whose brains are still developing and growing. Getting out and getting moving is also essential for children who are hyper active or have learning disabilities. These kid’s bodies may be screaming at them to move while sitting in a classroom and being able to regularly get out and blow off that energy and satisfy the need for movement will make them calmer when it is time to learn.

Kids who are in organized sports get additional benefit. They have higher self esteem, are more physically fit and feel a better connection to their school and community.

Let’s not forget that we are facing an obesity epidemic and physical activity isn’t just good for your brain. I don’t need to ask if you think physical activity is also good for weight loss and management. Here is where the obvious answer is also the right answer. This is also an area where the research showed a difference between the type of activity the kids did and their physical fitness. Kids who were in a physical education program had better fitness gains than those just allowed out to play freely even though both activities increased their grades as I mentioned before.

If you think there just aren’t enough hours in the day to add time for physical activity or to play a sport, try turning off the T.V. Children spend entirely too much time inactive in front of the T.V. and that has been shown to negatively affect grades.

By Dr Scott Szela

ref: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2008, 5:10