Active Kids Score Higher: More Activity Time Adds Up to Better Learning
Here’s good news for parents, teachers and legislators who want to help kids learn and excel: it’s easy as child’s play.
The 2009 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth, released in collaboration with ParticipACTION and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute— Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (CHEO-HALO), reveals that children who are more physically active are also more academically fit, resulting in better scores in math and reading, higher grades, greater perceptual skill and overall academic readiness.
“Being active feeds the brain, giving active kids an academic advantage over their peers who are more sedentary,” says Dr Mark Tremblay, chief scientific officer of Active Healthy Kids Canada. “We’ve always known that physical activity is essential for kids’ health and their long-term well-being. Now we know that it also improves school performance. A workout for your body is a workout for your brain.”
Unfortunately, this year’s report card gives most Canadian children a failing grade for physical activity levels: only 13 per cent of Canadian kids get the recommended 90 minutes of physical activity a day. The report card also assigns an F for screen time, because 90 per cent of Canadian children are still spending too much time in front of television, computer and video screens. Also distressing are the grades for active transportation (a D, because most families live close enough to walk or bike to school, but do not) and for school physical education and school policy, which rate a mediocre C- and C, respectively.
The full article can be found in The Runner Volume 44 No 2 Page 13 click here
Reprinted with permission from Active Healthy Kids Canada, www.activehealthykids.ca. Minor changes have been made to conform to ATA style.