What impact does Physical Education have on a child's academic perfromance?

By: Erica Haywood

It has been proven through multiple studies that physical fitness and physical education class in grade schools do have some type of positive impact on a child's academic performance.  Students who were involved in at least five hours of physical education a week had a higher academic performance compared to students who were only involved in 40 minutes a week.  The students with more PE time also received higher scores in math on standardized tests, even though their math class was cut short.  There was also a study done based on the type of instructors for the P.E.  There were professional and trained.  The classes taught by the professional were given more time than the others and only showed an improvement in fitness along with a small decline in academic performance.  The amount of time spent in P.E compared to class really didn't show much difference in the academic performance but it was proven that children who are active during school have higher GPAs.  Physical education in school has a powerful effect on children when it comes to class behavior, self esteem, self image and socially which are qualities that make a child want to be more involved with learning because they feel more confident as a whole.

Trudeau, François, and Roy J Shephard. "Physical Education, School Physical Activity, School Sports And Academic Performance." International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 5.1 (2008): 10. Print.

 http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/5/1/10/