Several studies in the past have reported that children who are physically active end up becoming more successful with better grades. This is in comparison to their peers with little to no physical activities. However, very few studies have been conducted that can be linked to this nature of topic.
A new study shows that adolescents who engaged in physical activities and underwent a follow-up period of two years have indeed achieved higher academic performance scores compared to their peers who have continued to be inactive. Furthermore, the study explains that their engagement in physical activities did not automatically result to higher grades in the academic aspect. Rather, the results suggest that those adolescents who worked hard to increased their physical activity still had lower academic performance during the follow-up period compared to their peers who have always been active.
What does it mean to have such results?
It practically says that highly active teenagers show better performance in school than their peers who do not engage in any form of regular physical activity. However, the same results show that working to increase physical activity within the next two academic years did not necessarily mean a huge improvement in their academic performance.
What do the results reveal?
Based on the results presented in the study, the improved academic performance of teens may not necessarily be because they have increased their physical activities. The same is true for adolescents who have high academic performance. It may not mean that they opted to be more physically active because of their high academic performance.
However, the study does not refute what previous studies have already presented. It shows that engaging in physical activities have a small, but positive effect on learning. The neural underpinnings that come with each situation improves because the body produces more endorphins that puts a learner in a more engaging learning environment.
"The link between academic performance and physical activity may not necessarily be causal in nature. It is possible that these two share similar attributes. It could mean that the teenager experiences a higher motivation to perform in school as they perform well in their chosen physical activity," Eero Haapala said, a researcher working on his post-doctoral degree from the University of Jyvaskyla.
