WIN Wyoming and WIN the Rockies

Thought Bullets
for
February 2004 

Student Academic Success Tied to Physical Fitness

When I was a young girl growing up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, P.E. classes were a daily occurrence in my grade school and junior high school. Some kids loved P.E. Some kids hated P.E. All kids participated in P.E., with the exception of a few of my friends who came up with very ingenious ways to be excused from P.E. A lot has changed in the last 30 to 40 years. As I visit schools now, I’m often alarmed by how few schools offer daily P.E. classes. There is a growing national effort to return physical education classes to the school day. That effort received a major boost when the California Department of Education released results from a 2001 state study that tied academic success to physical fitness.

• The research study matched scores from the 2001 Stanford Achievement Test (Ninth Edition) with the state-mandated 2001 physical fitness test (Fitnessgram). The study included almost a million students including 353,000 fifth graders, 322,000 seventh graders and 279,000 ninth graders.
• The Fitnessgram was developed by the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research and evaluates six areas of fitness: 1) aerobic capacity or endurance, 2) percent body fat, 3) abdominal strength and endurance, 4) trunk strength and flexibility, 5) upper body strength and endurance, and 6) overall flexibility.
• Using the Fitnessgram, only 23% of the California students tested were considered physically fit.
• Higher academic achievement was associated with higher levels of fitness for all three grade levels evaluated.
• The relationship between academic achievement and fitness was greater in mathematics than in reading.
• When releasing the results of the study, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin said, "This statewide study provided compelling evidence that the physical well-being of students has a direct impact on their ability to achieve academically. We now have the proof we’ve been looking for: students achieve best when they are physically fit. Thousands of years ago, the Greeks understood the importance of improving spirit, mind, and body. The research presented here validates their philosophic approach with scientific validation."
• The state of California looks to physical education classes as the primary avenue for promoting physical fitness. The goal of school P.E. is not to encourage athletic competitiveness but rather to "provide students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to participate in health enhancing physical activity throughout their lives."

Source: California Department of Education, News Release, December 10, 2002, accessed via website on January 20, 2004; www.cde.ca.gov.

Compiled by Betty Holmes, MS, RD

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