Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Feb 25:5:10.
doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-5-10.

Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance

François Trudeau  1 , Roy J Shephard
Affiliations

Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance

François Trudeau et al. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. .

Abstract

Background: 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.

Methods: 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.

Results: 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.

Conclusion: 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.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Dwyer T, Blizzard L, Dean K. Physical activity and performance in children. Nutr Rev. 1996;54:S27–S35. - PubMed
    1. Kirkendall DR. Effect of physical activity on intellectual development and academic performance. In: Stull GA, editor. Academy Papers. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 1986. pp. 49–63.
    1. Shephard RJ. Curricular physical activity and academic performance. Pediatr Exerc Sci. 1997;9:113–126.
    1. Taras H. Physical activity and student performance at school. J Sch Health. 2005;75:214–218. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2005.00026.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kramer AF, Erickson KI, Colcombe SJ. Exercise, cognition, and the aging brain. J Appl Physiol. 2006;101:1237–1242. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00500.2006. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources