Physical Education Is Good for Kids’ Grades, Study Finds

SUNDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) — Boosting students’ levels of
physical education improves their grades, a new, small study says.

Swedish researchers followed more than 200 schoolchildren, starting
from first through third grade, for nine years. Some children were
assigned to an intervention group that received physical education five
days a week, plus extra training in motor-physical skills such as balance
and coordination. The other children were assigned to a control group that
received usual levels of physical education.

The study showed that 96 percent of students in the intervention group
achieved grades that made them eligible to advance to upper-secondary
school, compared with 89 percent of students in the control group.

This difference was especially evident among boys (96 percent in the
intervention group and 83 percent in the control group). The boys in the
intervention group had significantly higher grades in Swedish, English,
math, physical education and health than those in the control group.

The study also found that in ninth grade, 93 percent of students in the
intervention group had good physical motor skills, compared with 53
percent of student in the control group.

“Physical education has been pared down from three lessons a week to
one or two,” study author Ingegerd, Ericsson of Malmo University, said in
a news release. “We scientifically confirm here that daily timetabled
physical education and adapted motor skills training not only improves
motor skills but also school achievement.”

More information

The Nemours Foundation has more about kids and exercise.

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