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Physical activity improves school performance
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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A systematic review of previous studies suggests that there may be a positive relationship between physical activity and children's performance in school, according to the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Amika Singh, PhD, of the EMGO Medical Institute in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues examined data on the relationship between children’s physical activity and their academic performance. The researchers wanted to determine whether the desire to get good grades led children to give up sports and become less physically active.
The authors analyzed the results of 10 previous observational and four intervention studies. Twelve studies were conducted in the United States, one in Canada, and one in South Africa. Sample sizes ranged from 53 to 12,000 participants aged 6 to 18 years. Study duration ranged from eight weeks to five years.
Research results have shown strong evidence of a significant relationship between physical activity and academic performance in children. Physical exercise can help improve cognitive skills by increasing blood and oxygen flow to the brain, increasing norepinephrine and endorphin levels, reducing stress, improving mood, and increasing the synthesis of growth factors that are involved in the formation of new nerve cells and supporting synaptic plasticity.
However, to date, there have been "relatively few studies of high methodological quality that have examined the association between physical activity and academic achievement," the authors conclude. None of the studies used objective measures of physical activity.
"Future studies are needed to conduct higher-quality studies that examine the dose-response relationship between physical activity and academic achievement and to elucidate the mechanisms by which it occurs, using reliable and valid measurement instruments to assess this relationship," the authors conclude.
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