Relationship Between Academic Ability And Physical Fitness In Elementary And Middle School Students

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between physical fitness and academic ability of Japanese children. METHODS: The participants were 2,417 elementary school 6th graders and middle school 2nd graders. The overall physical fitness assessment determined from eight physical fitness tests was used as the evaluation value (A: Excellent, B: Slightly excellent, C: Standard, D: Slightly inferior, E: Very inferior). For evaluation of academic ability we used the number of correct answers for basic and applied questions in national language and mathematics. national language (basic and applied), mathematics (basic and applied), basic academic ability (national language and math), applied academic ability (national language and math), and the total number of correct answers for all tests were calculated and analyzed. An independence test was applied to verify the relationship between academic ability and physical fitness. RESULTS: As a result of the analysis, significant (p < 0.01) associations were found between all items of academic ability and the overall physical fitness assessments for elementary and middle school students. Significant χ2 values were also found for all academic ability items in total number of correct answers by physical fitness evaluations. Residual analysis indicated that the rate of low correct answers was significantly lower, and the rate of high correct answers was significantly higher in children with higher levels of physical fitness. In other words, important evidence has emerged showing that children who have increased physical fitness owing to outdoor play and sports tend to have higher levels of academic ability. CONCLUSIONS: Elementary school students tended to have higher academic ability as their overall physical strength was higher. This tendency appears as a remarkable difference in applied academic ability. On the other hand, in middle school students, the academic ability levels of groups A, B, and C were similar. However, the level of academic ability in groups D and E was remarkably low, and it seems that students in the low physical fitness group lacked a positive approach to study.