Recent research presented at the American Psychological Association's 120th Annual Convention showed that cardiorespiratory fitness was the only factor that consistently was shown to have an impact on reading and math tests in middle school children. This study was done in Texas. Data was gathered from 1,211 Texas middle school students with an average age of 12. The group was 54% female, 57% white, 24% Mexican-American, 9 % African American. Across the board reading and math skills were associated with better physical fitness. Social support was related to better reading scores among boys. For girls having a larger body mass index was the only other factor aside from cardiorespiratory fitness that was related to performance on math tests. Physical fitness was assessed with a standardized fitness assessment administered by the physical education teachers. Other studies have also found that physical fitness is very important for learning. A book that I highly recommend is Spark: Exercise and the Brain.
Please visit my web site at www.drjessicaseaton.com
No comments:
Post a Comment