Feature Article Critique

Physical activity has not only physical benefits. It also has a very big impact on social-emotional and cognitive aspects of child’s live. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “The development of a physically active lifestyle is a goal for all children. Traditional team and competitive sports may promote healthy activity for selected youth. Individual sports, noncompetitive sports, lifetime sports, and recreational activities expand the opportunity for activity to everyone. The opportunity to be active on a regular basis, as well as the enjoyment and competence gained from activity, may increase the chances that a physically active lifestyle will be adopted.”

This will impact on a child or young person’s intellectual development as they will be more alert and ready to learn, physical activity is also likely to encourage social and emotional development as schools will provide sports clubs and after school activities, giving children and young people the opportunity to socialise and progress in self-esteem.

Physical activity also has benefits for children's social and emotional development and cognitive development. These benefits include being part of a team and making friends through group sports, which have a major impact on social and emotional development. The effect of obesity on children is closely linked to many bad health habits such as diet, smoking and drug use which in turn can affect a child's academic performance (Goran et al., 1999). Physical activity, if encouraged at a young age, can reduce the likelihood of children developing these behaviours and focus on their academic performance and cognitive development. As children in this age range are in their fundamental development stage, it is important that educators and parents alike, teach children about the importance of physical activity at a young age in order to prevent health and social well-being problems in their adult years.

The analysis of the data in this study showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the grade point average of high school junior student-athletes when compared to non-athletes. During their participation in an athletic season, the mean GPA of the athletes was 3.11 and the standard deviation was .73, when the athletes were not participating in an athletic season, the mean GPA was 3.20 and the standard deviation was .90.

Research has proven that physical activity improves cognitive function and can also improve brain function throughout a lifespan. Moreover, staying physically active has so many benefits as well. For example, doing exercise and fitness activities help build cells and natural pathways to help reduce changes in memory loss or dementia. Also, it has so many health benefits including long-term improvements to the cognitive function as the young adult reaching mid

How can sports help a student’s performance in school?  To be able to play sports in school, students need to maintain their grades, thus motivating learners to do well in school (Harris). In addition, a sport allows a person to come out of their comfort zone to meet new people and build up their self-image. Athletes also experience positive health benefits. Especially at a young age, playing sports can help to reduce diabetes, heart diseases, and other sickness that could be very harmful to students (Morris). Sports is something all students should participate in because of its positive effects. Therefore, schools should require students to join at least one sport. Participating in sports will help students build their academic success, develop character and improve their

A. What was studied? (theoretical framework) The time allocation for physical education school-based physical activity is often replaced with other classes in an effort to increase children’s academic performance. However, a growing body of literature suggests that physical activity either had no effect on academic performance or that it enhanced it..

It is very important to develop the younger population, such as elementary kids, physically and mentally. Studies have shown students who were more in shape tended to perform better on math and reading tests than the less active students (Pfaff, 2015). Studies also suggest that kids having recess or a physical education class during school hours is very powerful for

Of the 838 middle school students 52.9% of them were females and the mean age of all the students was 13 years old. The majority of the students met or exceeded the standards for both tests. 65-91% passed the physical fitness test, and 77-86% met the academic standards on the ISAT. In general the study reports a weak relationship between continuous physical activity and academic results.

In 2008, 30.2% of youth ages 6 to 12 were active to a healthy level through sports(“Facts”). This shows that some kids are getting the minimum amount of physical activity. To raise this level, all kids should include sports in their daily life. All kids should be engaged in sports. Regular activity is required for good health and high school athletes are more likely to attend college.

Podewils et al. (2005) found that it is possible that physical activities decreases the risk of dementia and conserve cognitive function. The study calculated the leisure-time energy expenditure and an activity index reflecting number of different physical activities of 3, 375 men and women over the age of 65 that did not suffer from dementia that participated in Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study. After a mean follow-up of 5.4 years, 480 of the participants has developed dementia. After multivariate adjustment, the study found that individuals who participated in 4 or more activities had a lower risk of dementia the those who engaged in one or less. Laurin et al. (2001), Scarmeas et al. (2001) and Larson et al. (2006), also, found similar relationship between physical exercise and dementia in people age of 65 and older. They all found that regular physical activity reduce the risk of dementia and/or preserve cognitive functions. Up to this point we saw evidence that physical exercise can prevent the decline of cognitive functions in later life, but that does not mean that it improves them.

The second article was tested with a whole middle school which tests all of the students. The problem was exact to the first article, that students in school were not receiving their full physical activity experience. Determining whether the sports can help will aid athletes in not having to think the sport is bringing their grade down. The method was a simple survey, asking the student how much physical activity they have in a normal day and was compared to what their grades were at the time of the study. The results in the study showed that the student’s athletic activity had little effect on the grades of the students, which disproves stereotypes. Limitations in the study are that ninety eight surveys were administered but only fifty eight were given back to the researchers. Further research may be that elementary, middle, and high school students can all be tested to see if the age of the student determines their success or failure with participating in physical activity.

There was a study done in Mississippi with elementary and middle school students, whose aim was to find associations between health-related physical fitness and academic achievement using standardized Language Arts and Math scores (Blom, Alvarez, Zhang, Kolbo, 2011). Besides the standardized test scores, objective measures of fitness were used, along with attendance records, discipline records and socio-demographic information of the area. The participants included 2,992 Mississippi public school children in grades 3-6. The results indicated a strong positive correlation between fitness and standardized test scores in Language Arts and Math. The more fit students had higher test scores and fewer absences overall. The study also revealed that students with the lowest number

The articles by Erikson et al., Gatz, Korol et al., and Draganski et al. explore the concept of increased physical activity and/or mental activity having effects on the cognitive function and development or deterioration of the brain as we age. Although I agree that physical exercise is critical in increasing cognitive function because of the health benefits it provides, as well as the increased blood flow and circulation throughout the body, I ultimately believe that a healthy brain is not achieved solely by physical exercise or mental exercise, but both. I think there is a link between physical and mental exercise, and that the combination of these two activities creates higher cognitive functioning of the mind as well as the body. The mind and body come together and meet to make an overall healthy individual.

In the modern schools, too many elementary schools are so centered academics and don’t focus on the well-being of the students. The school systems also don’t realize that physical activity can help students perform better in the classrooms. In the recent years, there has been a worldwide tendency to reduce school-based physical education in favor of academic subjects. Given the beneficial effects of exercise and the disadvantages of a sedentary lifestyle, cutbacks in physical education lessons are not near as productive as people think. Systematic reviews provide clear