Physical Activity Improves Grades

Was catching up on some research articles, clips and magazine that have been piling up for me to read up on and came across something I wanted to share. Its not something new for most of us, but my question is why are the education boards and the government not catching onto the fact that our children ARE NOT getting enough physical activity. I find it disheartening that the government would declare that children require at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day, but most students and parents I have talked to said that their children are not getting this. As a full time nanny I also see this time and time again. Gym class is cut short becuase another class needed it, a school event, somebody misbehaved so their time was cut short for the whole class, etc. To top it off most schools do not even have specialized teachers for physical activity classes. Would you let your general medical doctor also be your dentist? I don't think so. Okay, maybe thats a bit of an extreme but a yoga teacher is a yoga teacher and not necessarily a therapist so why wouldn't we expect our children to have a specialized PE teacher and somebody else to teach the children throughout the day. Not only do our children require somebody to lead them through a PE class who is experienced and knowledgeable about the body we should not put more stress on our school teachers to also teach PE when some are not overly familiar and comfortable with this subject in the first place.

So here is a small clip from my Fitness Business Canada magazine:

"In one of the latest studies in this field, James Pivarnik, president-elect of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and a professor of kinesiology at Michigan State University in East Lansing, and colleages found that middle-school students who performed best on fitness tests-which gauged aerobic capacity, strength, endurance, flexibility and body composition-performed better academically as well. Results from the study, which included 317 students in grades six through eight, showed that the fitness group of students scored almost 30 percent higher on standardized tests than the least fit group. And the least fit students had grades in four core classes that were 13 percent to 20 percent lower than all kids, according to findings presented at a recent ACSM meeting."

So, I know the research is American, but as Canadians we are not much healthier as a society. Its time to take charge, develop healthier children who enjoy moving their bodies, freeing their minds and letting their spirit soar. If we all work together we can acheive more.....let's do it!