According to a British study, regular physical activity would improve the academic results of teenagers. And more particularly young girls in science subjects.
Were our players from the French football team good students? Indeed, while the French sometimes laugh at the French mistakes of our favorite players in front of the television microphones, a British study seems to show, this Tuesday, that regular physical activity would allow children to progress in their learning. And young athletic girls would particularly excel in certain subjects.
The bump of math thanks to sport?
In this British study published in the journal British Journal of Sports Medicine, dhe researchers from the University of Dundee (Scotland) studied some 5,000 young Britons followed since their birth in the early 1990s. They compared their physical and academic performance respectively at 11, 13 and 16 years old. The duration and intensity of physical activity was measured by an accelerometer (or sensor) over a period of three to seven days.
As a result, at age 11, boys practiced 29 minutes of moderate or intensive exercise per day, against 18 minutes for girls, while the recommendations for this age group recommend 60 minutes per day. But, by comparing the school performance of children in English, mathematics and science, the researchers found a correlation between the amount of physical activity displayed and an advantage for these teens in their school results. Especially for girls when it comes to science subjects.
Starting the sport early would give an academic advantage
And according to these scientists, the benefits of sport observed at the age of 16 were all the more important the physical activity started early, with a tangible increase in school performance for each additional period of 17 minutes of training. daily physical exercise for boys and 12 minutes for girls.
Lead author Dr Josephine Booth said: “This is an important finding, especially in light of UK and EU policies to increase the number of women working in science. Cautious about these results, Josephine Booth recognizes the existence of certain limits to her study. Among them, “the definition of a moderate or intensive activity, but also the absence of information on the activities carried out during periods of sedentary lifestyle. “
However, even if the data collected still deserve to be refined, the authors reaffirm the interest of these results, “devoting more time to physical education is beneficial for health and well-being, but in addition does not harm not to the school results of our children ”, they specify.
Aerobics would facilitate learning and memorization in college students
According to one study American unveiled in September, children who were in better aerobic condition remembered with precision more than 40% of the names of regions and cities, against barely 25% for other children. “High levels of fitness for children with academic difficulties could be beneficial,” said Charles Hillman, co-author of the study and professor at the University of Illinois at the time.
Finally, last August, a study published in the journal The Journal of Pediatrics involving more than 12,000 schoolchildren in Nebraska once again demonstrated the link between physical fitness and good academic performance among young people. For example, students who were overweight but with correct running results generally had better performance in math and English than thinner students, but less athletic …
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