Digital Artifact folder

 

Lindsay Anderson University of Calgary EDUC 430 October 9, 2013

Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement

Joseph E. Donnelly !, Kate LambourneEnergy Balance Laboratory & Center for Physical Activity & Weight Management, University of Kansas, USA

a b s t r a c ta r t i c l e i n f o

Available online 31 January 2011

Keywords:Physical activityChildrenObesitySchoolsCognitive function

Background. There is increasing evidence for the association between physical activity, cardiovascular!tness, fatness, and cognitive function during childhood and adolescence. Evidence also suggests that thesevariables are linked to academic achievement. Classroom-based physical activity provides a viable approachto improve !tness, body mass index (BMI), cognitive function, and ultimately academic achievement.

Methods. Studies examining the relation between physical activity, !tness, fatness, cognitive function,and academic achievement are described. The results of a large-scale, longitudinal, cluster randomized trial toexamine the impact of classroom based physical activity on body mass index and academic achievement willbe presented.

Results. Overall, the data support the link between physical activity, cognitive function, and academicachievement. The role of physical activity in the classroom was also supported by the Physical Activity Acrossthe Curriculum (PAAC) project. Physically active academic lessons of moderate intensity improved overallperformance on a standardized test of academic achievement by 6% compared to a decrease of 1% for controls(pb0.02). Body mass index increased less from baseline to 3 years in students with greater than 75 minutes ofPAAC lessons per week (1.8 BMI) compared to students with less than 75 minutes of PAAC per week (2.4BMI), pb0.00.

Conclusions. Future research examining the effects of physically active academic instruction is warranted.The impact of physically active academic lessons of greater intensity may provide larger bene!ts for bodymass index and academic achievement.

© 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Introduction

Physical activity in public schools has steadily declined since the1970s. During this time, the percentage of children who areoverweight has more than doubled, and the rates among adolescentshave more than tripled (Hedley et al., 2004). Recent estimatesindicate that 25% of children in the US are overweight and 11% areobese (Dehghan, 2005). In parallel fashion, co-morbidities formerlyonly seen in adults have emerged in children including type 2diabetes, elevated blood pressure, triglycerides, and low HDL-cholesterol. Metabolic syndrome has been estimated to be at 5% inelementary school children and this percentage increases to 12% and20% in minority and overweight children, respectively (DuBose et al.,2006), though more data is needed to verify these percentages. It islikely that decreased physical activity is a major factor in the drastic

increase in obesity rates, and one third of male and female adolescentsfail to meet recommended standards for cardiorespiratory !tness(Pate et al., 2006). Both !tness and fatness appear to be associatedwith cognitive function (Li et al., 2008; Roberts et al., 2010; Yu, 2010)and academic achievement (Datar et al., 2004; Shore et al., 2008) inchildren.

Many researchers have made attempts to target child obesity bydesigning interventions that can be utilized in the public school system.Children are accessible in this setting because themajority of children inthe United States spend most of their day at school. However it shouldbe noted that schools promote a sedentary lifestyle. Children spendbetween 6 and 8 h in academic instruction per day. Paradoxically,physical education classes may detract from physical activity, aschildren spend less than half of this time engaged in moderate tovigorous physical activity (Levin et al., 2001). The association betweenphysical activity, !tness, fatness and academic achievement (see Fig. 1)provides a unique opportunity to intervene and provide programs thatboth improve health and academic performance. This review willpresent evidence for the association of physical activity, !tness, fatness,and academic achievement and describe an intervention designed toincrease physical activity in the classroom and in turn impact thesevariables. The Physical Activity Across the Curriculum (PAAC) project

Preventive Medicine 52 (2011) S36–S42

! Corresponding author at: Energy Balance Laboratory & Center for Physical Activity& Weight Management, Robinson Room 100, 1301 Sunnyside Avenue, University ofKansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. Fax: +1 785 864 2009.

E-mail address: jdonnelly@ku.edu (J.E. Donnelly).

0091-7435/$ – see front matter © 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc.doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.021

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Preventive Medicine

j ourna l homepage: www.e lsev ie r.com/ locate /ypmed

Classroom-Based PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, COGNITION, & ACADEMIC

ACHIEVEMENT

Figure 1. This article is a great summary of the interest I have in the importance of physical activity in the classroom and its effect on cognitive functioning. Not only are the rates of childhood obesity increasing exponentially, but there seems to be less and less time set aside for students to be active throughout their day at school. This article also suggests practical ways to incorporate movement into academic lessons.

Donnelly, J. E., & Lambourne, K. (2011). Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement. Preventive Medicine, 52, Supplement(0), S36-S42. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.021

 

Physically Active VS. SEDENTARY CLASSROOMS

Figure 2. Physical activity leads to increased academic achievement. Students tend to be more engaged when their bodies are experiencing the concepts that their minds are absorbing, such as spelling words by jumping from letter to letter, similar to hopscotch. Donnelly, J. E., & Lambourne, K. (2011). Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement. Preventive Medicine, 52, Supplement(0), S36-S42. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.021

   

Just Breathe... STUDENTS PRACTICE YOGA IN THE CLASSROOM

Figure 3. Yoga in the classroom can help with relaxation and reducing students’ anxiety. It is also a quick and easy way to get students up and moving. This is a method that I envision myself applying in my future classroom in situations where I need students to refocus after becoming distracted.

Twelvedottv. (2013, September 12). Just breathe. Students practice yoga in classrooms [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH0CHN7tdRY

Experiential Learning

Figure 4. I loved performing in class plays as an elementary student. As a future teacher, I can see how experiential learning through acting out concepts can create a strong internalization of the information, like these students are doing for their science class. Martin, J. (Photographer). (2009, June 11). Earthy & Friends - Primary multi-age class play [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/63586135@N00/3618756667/in/photolist-6vM5hk-6vM5bP-6vRg3N-6vRg35-6vRfZG-6vM5aV-6vM4Pe-6vM4Yx-6vM538-6vM5nc-6vM5pg-6vM4Wc-6Ut8TN-6QV8x2-6QZhwJ-6QZcYq-7xiDvv-8S7aL9-8S7aYS-86icsR-86mmsh-86ica4-86icxv-86mmUS-86ichx-86mn69-5gBg9w-86mnhL-4u5JjT-LFJpt-9QBh1W-aMt9UD-aMtafg-aMt8Pi-aMt8MH-aMt8AX-aMt9xx-aMt9Eg-aMt9GR-aMtbG2-aMtbMg-aMtbSv-aMt9aH-aMtana-aMtaNz-aMta6Z-aMtacr-aMtaJB-aMt8XD-aMtbYK-aMt8Cg

REFERENCES Donnelly, J. E., & Lambourne, K. (2011). Classroom-based physical activity,

cognition, and academic achievement. Preventive Medicine, 52, Supplement(0), S36-S42. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.021

Martin, J. (Photographer). (2009, June 11). Earthy & Friends - Primary multi-age

class play [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/63586135@N00/3618756667/in/photolist-6vM5hk-6vM5bP-6vRg3N-6vRg35-6vRfZG-6vM5aV-6vM4Pe-6vM4Yx-6vM538-6vM5nc-6vM5pg-6vM4Wc-6Ut8TN-6QV8x2-6QZhwJ-6QZcYq-7xiDvv-8S7aL9-8S7aYS-86icsR-86mmsh-86ica4-86icxv-86mmUS-86ichx-86mn69-5gBg9w-86mnhL-4u5JjT-LFJpt-9QBh1W-aMt9UD-aMtafg-aMt8Pi-aMt8MH-aMt8AX-aMt9xx-aMt9Eg-aMt9GR-aMtbG2-aMtbMg-aMtbSv-aMt9aH-aMtana-aMtaNz-aMta6Z-aMtacr-aMtaJB-aMt8XD-aMtbYK-aMt8Cg

Twelvedottv. (2013, September 12). Just breathe. Students practice yoga in

classrooms [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH0CHN7tdRY