Abstract
BackgroundSome studies have found positive associations between physical fitness and academic achievements. Pupils’ academic achievements should indicate scholastic abilities to commence a post-compulsory education. However, the effect magnitude of physical fitness and academic achievements on commencement in post-compulsory education is unknown. We examined the pathways between physical fitness and academic achievement on pupils’ commencement in post-compulsory education.MethodsThis historical cohort study followed 530 girls and 554 boys from the Danish municipality of Aalborg in the period 2008–2014, 13 to 15 years old in 2010. Physical fitness was assessed through a watt-max cycle ergometer test represented as VO2max (mL·kg−1·min−1). Academic achievement, commencement status and information on covariates were obtained from Danish nationwide registers. Causal inference based mediation analysis was used to investigate the indirect and direct pathways by separating the total effect of physical fitness on post-compulsory education commencement.ResultsAdjusting for sex, age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, the overall mediation analysis showed an odds ratio (OR) of 1.87 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.30; 2.73) for the total effect, corresponding to an increase in odds of post-compulsory education commencement when the physical fitness was increased by 10 units of VO2max. The separated total effect showed a natural direct OR of 1.36 (95% CI: 0.93; 1.98) and a natural indirect (i.e., through academic achievement) OR of 1.37 (95% CI: 1.20; 1.57). Thus, 51% (95% CI: 27%; 122%) of the effect of physical fitness on post-compulsory education commencement was mediated through academic achievement.ConclusionPhysical fitness had a positive effect on post-compulsory education commencement. A substantial part of this effect was mediated through academic achievement.
Highlights
Some studies have found positive associations between physical fitness and academic achievements
Previous studies have found a positive association between physical fitness and academic achievements in pupils, suggesting that improving physical fitness could have a positive effect on their academic achievements [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]
The objective of this study is to examine the pathways between physical fitness and academic achievement on post-compulsory education commencement; the pupils’ academic achievement from compulsory education are treated as a mediator in this relation
Summary
Some studies have found positive associations between physical fitness and academic achievements. A factor that could influence pupils’ commencement is academic achievements from compulsory education, because this should represent pupils’ scholastic abilities and indicate their ability to continue into a postcompulsory education This is supported by a report produced by the Danish National Centre for Social Research, illustrating that the more pupils at a school who obtain a grade point average above seven on the Danish seven-point grading scale (e.g., equivalent to a C on the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) [28]), the greater the proportion of pupils who will commence a post-compulsory education [29]. The objective of this study is to examine the pathways between physical fitness and academic achievement on post-compulsory education commencement; the pupils’ academic achievement from compulsory education are treated as a mediator in this relation
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