Abstract
Although increasing attention has been given to student academic achievement, usually measured by grade point average (GPA), and fitness in children and adolescents, much fewer studies have been conducted in higher education settings, especially in China. This study investigated the longitudinal associations of aerobic fitness (AF), body mass index (BMI), and GPA in Chinese pre-service teachers at a university. A longitudinal research design was employed to track changes in AF, BMI, and GPA, for a total of 1980 students for four years. Multi-level growth models were used to examine the interactive changes of the above three variables. It was found that GPA and BMI increased each year, while AF declined dramatically at the fourth year. The three-way interaction among GPA, gender, and BMI was significant, suggesting females who were overweight/obese had lower GPA. The data from the current study suggested that AF did not impact students’ GPA. Class standing (i.e., the fourth year) and gender (i.e., females) need to be taken into consideration when designing interventions to improve student overall fitness and academic performance in Chinese pre-service teacher populations.
Highlights
Research has suggested that there is a positive relationship between aerobic fitness (AF) and academic achievement measured by the grade point average (GPA), and a negative association between aerobic fitness (AF) and body mass index (BMI), as well as GPA and BMI [1,2,3]
We found: (a) both AF and BMI declined while GPA was increased each year; (b) AF and GPA were negatively correlated for the first three years and a reverse trend was shown at the fourth year while the correlation between BMI and GPA was not significant each year; and (c) significant gender effect was found in GPA, BMI, and AF
Using a sample of Chinese pre-service teachers, the results of the longitudinal study revealed that BMI was not significantly associated with GPA, while AF was negatively correlated to GPA for the first three years and such a relationship was not found at the fourth year
Summary
Research has suggested that there is a positive relationship between aerobic fitness (AF) and academic achievement measured by the grade point average (GPA), and a negative association between aerobic fitness (AF) and body mass index (BMI), as well as GPA and BMI [1,2,3]. Due to the pressure for academic excellence assessed by the statewide standardized testing, increasing attention has been given to the relationships among GPA, AF, and BMI in children and adolescents [4,5,6,7]. This assertion is supported by the fact that studies on the topic have been found in many countries in recent years such as China [2,8], Japan [9], Spain [10], the Netherlands [11], and the US [1,12]. Public Health 2019, 16, 966; doi:10.3390/ijerph16060966 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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