Physical activity can, in fact, boost learning and well-being in secondary school. A rising collection of evidence demonstrates the multiple advantages of regular physical activity for students in this age group.
According to a study done by the University of Eastern Finland, adolescents who participate in active school transportation and leisure-time physical exercise outperform their inactive peers in secondary school. Regular leisure-time physical activity, even in small amounts, was also linked to a lower risk of school burnout. The research was published in the European Journal of Public Health.
The link between physical activity and learning and academic ability is complicated. Prior research, however, has demonstrated that school-based physical exercise, such as physical education, can boost classroom performance, particularly in mathematics. Despite this, few research has looked into the relationship between active school transportation and academic outcomes. The majority of past research on physical exercise and school wellbeing has been conducted on university-level students.
The findings on active school transportation were especially intriguing, as researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the health benefits of travel-related walking and cycling. Physical activity before school, for example, could improve attentiveness in the classroom, explaining our data.
Juuso Jussila
Researchers discovered that active school transportation was connected with better likelihood of high perceived academic achievement and self-reported competency in academic skills in a recent study of over 34,000 adolescents. The link was considerably stronger for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during leisure time. The association between leisure-time physical exercise and mathematics ability stood out, as it has in previous investigations.
“The findings on active school transportation were especially intriguing, as researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the health benefits of travel-related walking and cycling. Physical activity before school, for example, could improve attentiveness in the classroom, explaining our data. Our study, however, cannot demonstrate causality due to the cross-sectional design,” says Juuso Jussila, a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Eastern Finland.
“Due to support from prospective and intervention studies, there were no surprises regarding the strong association between leisure-time physical activity and perceived academic achievement.” Although we do not know all of the explaining mechanisms, increased coordination and perceptual-motor skills, which are necessary in many team sports, can at least partially explain these findings. Leisure-time physical activity is also more intensive than active school transportation, resulting in increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor in our circulation and, as a result, improvements in cognitive performance.”
Leisure-time physical activity was also inversely associated with school burnout. As little as 30 minutes of weekly moderate-to-vigorous activity was associated with 24% lower odds of school burnout. Adolescents who engaged in leisure-time physical activity for 4 to 6 hours a week had 46% lower odds of school burnout compared to their physically inactive peers. Both leisure-time physical activity and active school transport were also positively associated with school enjoyment.
“To the best of my knowledge, this was the first large-scale study to investigate the link between physical activity and school burnout in adolescents.” Physical activity during leisure time can be an excellent approach to detach from schooling and the possible stress associated with it. “If we can increase the amount of leisure-time physical activity among youth, we can reap significant learning and well-being benefits,” Jussila concludes.
The research was carried out in conjunction with the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare and the national School Health Promotion study. Jussila is a researcher in the Climate Nudge project, which is financed by the Academy of Finland’s Strategic Research Council.
