A Systematic Review of the Effects of Physical Activity on Specific Academic Skills of School Students

Irineu Loturco,Lucas A Pereira,Vanderson Berbat,Marina B Ferraz,Natalia P Montoya

doi:10.3390/educsci12020134

Abstract

This systematic review examined the effects of distinct physical activity interventions on the academic achievement of school students based on an analysis of four distinct outcomes: mathematics, language, reading, and composite scores. This study was performed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines and the QUORUM statement. A literature search was conducted using the PubMed-MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Peer-reviewed studies published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish were considered. A random-effect meta-analysis was employed to determine the effect of interventions on academic performance. The effects between interventions and control groups were expressed as standardized mean differences. Thirty-one studies were included in the meta-analysis based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The exercise programs were not capable of significantly improving language, reading skills, and composite scores. Conversely, performance in math tests increased significantly after the interventions compared with the control groups. Regarding the overall effect, a significant improvement in academic achievement was detected after physical activity programs compared with controls. In conclusion, the positive effects of school-based physical education on academic performance are not uniform and may be higher for math skills. The implementation of evidence-based exercise programs in school settings emerges as a promising strategy to increase overall academic achievement in school-aged students.

Highlights

Over the last few decades, the rate of sedentarism has increased dramatically around the world, currently being considered a “public health issue” [1,2,3,4]
The following keywords were used in conjunction with the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR” as part of the search strategy: “students”, “schoolchildren”, “physical activity”, “physical education”, “sport”, “exercise”, “academic performance”, “academic achievement”, and “school grades”
We examined the effects of different types of physical activity programs on the academic performance of school students

Summary

Introduction

Over the last few decades, the rate of sedentarism has increased dramatically around the world, currently being considered a “public health issue” [1,2,3,4]. Physical inactivity significantly increases the risk of several chronic diseases, such as different forms of cancer, diabetes, hypertension, dementia, coronary and cerebrovascular events, bone disorders, and obesity [8,9]. Together, these findings highlight the severity of this “global epidemic” and reinforce the need for urgent and effective strategies to increase the levels of physical activity and to reduce sedentary behavior among the general population [3,10,11]. There is no doubt that regular exercise, especially when performed uninterruptedly from earlier life stages, has numerous physical and physiological benefits [21,22,23,24]

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Discussion

Conclusion