Research Study Abstract

Objectively Measured Physical Activity During Physical Education and School Recess and Their Associations With Academic Performance in Youth: The UP&DOWN Study

  • Published on Apr 4, 2017

Background: This study examined the associations of objectively measured physical activity in Physical Education and recess with academic performance in youth.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,780 participants aged 6 to 18 years (863 girls). Physical activity was objectively measured by accelerometry and was also classified according to sex- and age specific quartiles of physical activity intensities. Academic performance was assessed through school records.

Results: Physical activity in physical education (PE) and recess was not associated with academic performance (β ranging from –0.038 to –0.003; all P > .05). Youth in the lowest quartile of physical activity in PE engaged in an average of 1.40 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and those in the highest quartile engaged in 21.60 min (for recess: lowest quartile, 2.20 min; highest quartile, 11.15 min). There were no differences in academic performance between quartiles of physical activity in Physical Education and recess.

Conclusions: Time spent at different physical activity intensities during PE and recess does not impair academic performance in youth.

Author(s)

  • Irene Esteban-Cornejo 1
  • David Martinez-Gomez 2
  • Laura Garcia-Cervantes 3
  • Francisco B. Ortega 4,5
  • Alvaro Delgado-Alfonso 6
  • José Castro-Piñero 6
  • Oscar L. Veiga 3

Institution(s)

  • 1

    Dept of Physical Education and Sport, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
  • 2

    Physical Education, Sport, and Human Movement, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  • 3

    Dept of Physical Education, Sport, and Human Movement, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  • 4

    Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Dept of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 5

    PROFITH (PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity) Research Group, Dept of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain
  • 6

    Dept of Physical Education, University of Cadiz, Cádiz, Spain.

Journal

The Official Journal of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health

Categories

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