Exercising while learning might improve kids test scores, a new study finds. The researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital looked at students in grades 1 through 6 at an academically low-scoring school in Charleston, SC, who took part in a program that incorporated physical activity and classroom lessons for 40 minutes a day, five days a week. Before the study, the students had 40 minutes of physical education classes a week.
As part of the program, students in grades 1 and 2 learned movement skills while basic academic skills were reinforced. For example, they hopped through ladders while naming colors on each rung. Students in grades 3 to 6 used exercise equipment with TV monitors. For example, a monitor on a treadmill would feature geography lessons while a student “ran” through the scene.
Results showed that the time spent out of a traditional classroom in order to increase physical education did not hurt students academic achievement. In fact, test scores improved. Specifically, the percentage of students reaching their goal on the state tests increased from 55 percent before the program was initiated to 68.5 percent after the program was initiated.
“More studies are needed,” said Dr. Carly J. Scahill, DO, another researcher, “but there is growing substantial evidence that this kind of physical activity may help improve academic behavior, cognitive skills and attitudes.”
The study was presented May 1 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Denver.
