Running head: PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

PPE310: Health Literacy for Schools

Physical fitness and academic performance
Signature Assignment Outline
Jeff Denson
Course # 25965
Mary Dean

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Introduction
Children are currently facing an epidemic in our country that shows no signs of slowing
down. Physical fitness is no longer seen as a necessity in our schools. The benefits of physical
activity have taken a back seat to high stakes testing and accountability. Schools have shifted
away from teaching students the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle and focused more
on test scores. What if there was a way to address both childhood obesity and academic
performance? Would you want that for your children? Imagine a world where students are
active and have grades that will ensure their chances at graduating. This can be a reality for all
schools if they adapt their curriculum to address the major needs facing American students today.
The focus of this assignment will be to study the correlation between physical fitness and
academic performance by reviewing articles from various journals and interpreting the data.
This paper will also address how to incorporate physical fitness activities into any lesson.
Literature Review
Voelker (2014) discusses the results of research conducted by
public health officials for the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey. The
purpose of the research was to compare school obesity rates that adopt a
school-based program focused on education regarding healthy eating and
physical activity with the rest of the state. Low-income districts were
chosen based on factors including obesity rate, poor nutrition, and a lack
of physical activity. The schools that were chosen adopted new standards
for school meal nutrition, started campaigns that promoted healthy eating
and active living, and training for the cafeteria staff. In 2012, after the

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program was in place for 2 years, the prevalence of student obesity in
King County decreased for the first time, to 7.9% compared with 9.5% in
2004 (Voelker, 2014).
Bass, Brown, Lawson and Coleman (2013) conducted a study to
determine the connection between physical fitness and academic
performance in middle school students. Participants in the study included
over 800 students who were required to take PE classes 5 days per week
taught by certified PE instructors with an average of 19 years of
experience. Students were given a pre-test and a post-test. Results of the
post-test were used for analysis. The fitness tests assessed five
components of physical fitness including body composition, aerobic
capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. The most
important finding of the study was that specific aspects of physical fitness
are associated with academic achievement in a large group of middle
school students. Further, aerobic capacity has the strongest relationship
to academic achievement (Bass et al., 2013).
Van Dusen, Kelder, Kohl, Ranjit and Perry (2001) published an article
that studied the correlation between physical fitness and academic
performance based the test records of students in grades 3-11. In the
article, Associations of Physical Fitness and Academic Performance Among
Schoolchildren, the authors point out that while schools are funded based
on academic performance, research is needed to justify allocating school

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funds that support physical activity programs. If the research suggests a
strong correlation, why arent these programs being encouraged in schools
to deal with low test scores? The research suggests that, Fitness was
strongly and significantly related to academic performance. Cardiovascular
fitness showed a dose-response association with academic performance
independent of other socio-demographic and fitness variables. The
association appears to peak in late middle to early high school. We
recommend that policymakers consider physical education (PE) mandates
in middle high school, school administrators consider increasing PE time,
and PE practitioners emphasize cardiovascular fitness (Van Dusen, et al,
2011).
In 2011, London and Castrechini conducted a study to determine the
relationship between physical fitness and school performance. The article
suggests a disparity in achievement between students who are fit and
those who are unfit as early as fourth grade. Factors such as
socioeconomic status are a good predictor of the level of physical fitness a
student engages in. Disproportionately, a majority of the students who
pass their fitness tests are white, non-Latino, native English speakers who
do not receive the free or reduced priced lunch and have parents who
have graduated college. The results suggest that physical fitness is a
greater predictor of academic success compared to obesity. Students
who pass both their fifth and seventh grade PFTs have average scores of

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0.40 and 0.45 standard deviations above the mean in ELA and math,
respectively, compared to students who fail the PFT in both fifth and
seventh grades, who have average scores of 0.28 and 0.29 standard
deviations below the mean (London & Castrechini, 2011).
Preventative Medicine journal published a document discussing the
benefits of physical activity breaks in the classroom suggesting an
association between physical activities and classroom behavior. The three
main claims in the article indicate that physical activity breaks can
increase a students overall physical activity, improve classroom behavior,
and improve public health. The results show that when schools create a
comprehensive program to meet the needs of the students, student
physical activity and classroom behavior improve. Teacher
implementation of classroom physical activity breaks was related to higher
student physical activity during school and better on-task and attentive
behavior in the classroom. The present findings suggest that, to meet the
30 min/day school physical activity guideline (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), 2011, Koplan et al., 2005 and Pate et al., 2006),
comprehensive school physical activity programs are needed (Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2013 and Institute of Medicine,
2013).
Synthesis of Information

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After extensive research, it is irrefutable that physical fitness has a positive effect on
academic achievement. The journals unanimously agree that students who are active will
succeed and score higher in Reading and Math. One variable that the research has identified as
nonlinear association is socio-economic status. We see that this variable acts as a buffer for
those students who are physically unfit but are also high achievers. The research in the journals
varies in both location and sample size. One journal studied the effects of physical fitness of
over 250,000 students from 13 districts in Texas while another included just over 800 students
from Illinois. Another note worth mentioning is that one article determined that specific
exercises will predict academic achievement. However, despite these differences, the articles
mainly studied the effects of physical fitness on middle thru high school students and determined
that Math and Reading scores can be expected to improve.
The conclusion is clear; teachers, administrators, and parents should take an active role in
students lives by creating opportunities for them to be actively engaged. Teachers can add
opportunities by including chances for students to be active in their lessons. Administrators can
support their staff by adding to the curriculum or creating professional development meetings
that give teachers information. Parents can encourage their kids to play, exercise, or participate
in group activities.
Practical Implications
To promote a healthy lifestyle and physical fitness, teachers should propose Hohokam
Elementary adopt a program called Get Moving!. Teachers, students, and parents are
encouraged to participate in order to motivate students and model behaviors we want to see in
our kids. Once a month, students will engage in physical activities including sports and team
building activities. This program is driven by research and studies that prove a positive
correlation between physical fitness and academic performance. This program will ensure

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students are meeting their academic goals while simultaneously fighting against the alarming rate
of childhood obesity in our country.
The Get Moving! program will occur once a month at the end of each month for the
entire school year. This program addresses a lot of issues facing students today like low
academic performance and obesity but it will also promote a partnership between parents and
faculty. The goal of the program will show how dedicated school staff is to helping students in
various ways outside of the classroom. Activities will consist of sports including kickball,
softball, flag football, and volleyball. To promote participation and competitiveness, colored tshirts could be loaned to identify teams (eg. Red vs. Blue). Members of the committee could
have special thirsts created to indicate their participation in the committee.
Occasionally, parents and children can participate in other activities requiring less
movement and more bonding experiences like watermelon eating races, relay races, or fieldtrips
to see local professional or college games.
To remind parents of these activities, a monthly reminder can be sent home in the form of
a newsletter. This newsletter will inform parents of what activity they can volunteer for, where
the activity will take place, and the time. To kick off this program, volunteers from the school
staff will create a committee dedicated to presenting the idea to administration and funding. If
approval is granted, a request for funding from Fuel Up to Play 60 will be sent and a committee
will be established consisting of staff, parents, and students to create a monthly calendar of
events. The committee will meet every Monday from 8:20 8:45 am to plan for the monthly
event, discuss important topics, and create advertisement posters. To encourage students and
parents to join the committee, money could be set aside to fund an end of year field trip to watch
an ASU team play in the spring.

Monthly raffles and catered meetings might encourage parents

to participate and attend group sessions.

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Fuel Up to Play 60 is a program that encourages healthy eating habits and physical
activity opportunities. It offers $4,000 every year to K-12 schools that are enrolled. Funding
information and eligibility guidelines can be located at
https://www.fueluptoplay60.com/funding/general-information. To promote this program, the
committee will create posters, a Facebook page, and inform the school via morning
announcements. To educate students and parents, the committee will create newsletters every
month that include educational information about childhood obesity, the link between physical
fitness and academic performance, and tips to implement at home that encourage healthy eating
habits and suggested physical activities.
Conclusion
Every school should adopt a program like Get Moving! because physical fitness has a
positive correlation to academic performance. The Get Moving! program encourages families
to participate in fun after school activities that promote teamwork and physical health. Teachers
will be enriched by the experience and see academic performance and engagement increase in
their classroom. By design, this program will give students the opportunity to participate in
activities that implement physical fitness and encourage them to continue every day.
After a few years, the program could be inserted into the school curriculum in order to
educate more students and give teachers a new strategy to fight against low test scores. The
research is clear that physical fitness is a great predictor of academic success but in order for
change to occur, schools should create a program like Get Moving!.

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References
Bass, R. W., Brown, D. D., Laurson, K. R., & Coleman, M. M. (2013). Physical fitness and
academic performance in middle school students. Acta Paediatrica, 102(8), 832-837.
Carlson, J. A., Engelberg, J. K., Cain, K. L., et al. Implementing classroom physical activity
breaks:
Associations with student physical activity and classroom behavior. Preventive Medicine
2015;81:6772.
London, R. A., & Castrechini, S. (2011). A Longitudinal Examination of the Link Between
Youth Physical Fitness and Academic Achievement. Journal Of School Health, 81(7),
400-408.
Voelker R. (2014). Decline in Student Obesity Rate Linked With School-Based Program.
Journal of American Medical Association, 311(14):1390.
Van Dusen, D. P., Kelder, S. H., Kohl, H. W., Ranjit, N., & Perry, C. L. (2011). Associations of
Physical Fitness and Academic Performance Among Schoolchildren. Journal Of School
Health, 81(12), 733-740 8p.

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Final Fridays:
On the last Friday
of every month,
groups will meet
to compete in
games for prizes!

Get Moving!
2016

Criteria
(5) Exemplary
(4) Highly
Proficient
with
(97 100%)
Profession
Physical
Fitness and Academic Performance
(93 96%)
al
Standards
Reference
d
Outline
Outline
Turned
In(Alread
y
submitted
for points)

(3) Proficient
(83 92%)
14

(2)
Approaching
Proficient
(73 82%)

(1)
Unsatisfactory
(72%
and below)

10 Points
Logical,
detailed
outline with at
least 5
original peer
reviewed
references
written in
APA format is
submitted
with a
technology
choice
selected to
embed the
assignment.

5 x 2=10
points
Introduction

Brief outline
with at least 5
original peer
reviewed
references
written in
APA format is
submitted.

Brief outline
with some
references but
not 5 original
peer reviewed
references
written in
APA format
are submitted.

Brief outline
No outline
with one or no was
references
submitted.
submitted.

Introduction
is addressed
well,
somewhat
organized and
created a plan
for the paper.

Introduction is Introduction is
addressed
omitted or
adequately.
was
disorganized
and did not
create a plan
for the paper.

10 Points

Introducti
on to the
topic and
overview
(In your
purpose
statement
also
introduce
all
subtopics)

Introduction
is fully
developed,
well
organized,
introduces all
topics, created
a plan for the
paper and
invites the
reader to read
further.

InTASC
1c,k; 5k;
9f; 10h
NAEYC
6b
NETS-T
3a,d; 4a,c
CEC
EC2S1;
CC7K1;
EC7K1;C
C9K4;CC

5 x 2=10
points

Introduction
is fully
developed
with all topics
introduced.