Does hitting the court help you when you hit the books? A recent University of Chicago analysis shows a strong link between school sports participation and academic achievement.
Unfortunately, data suggest that rates of children’s school-based physical activity may be declining with many schools having reduced athletic opportunities in recent years. This may be caused by schools becoming overly focused on core academic areas such as reading and math, hot-button issues amid falling literacy and numeracy rates.
However, evidence linking physical activity and academic achievement is particularly strong in a series of recent observational studies. This enhancement of cognition is directly related to core academic ability and positive outcomes such as higher grades and test scores, this University of Chicago research suggests. There exists a need for additional research, the paper concludes, to extend the robust findings connecting school sports to academic success.
