During their fifth-period gym class, several students begin their workout with two sets of 20 push-ups. Then there’s running, drills in basketball, volleyball and soccer. By the time they’re finished and back in the classroom, some kids notice it’s easier to return to their studies.

“… I played a little bit, and then I can do my work easier,” says Jonathan Garbe, 10.

“I don’t feel like running anymore or anything, so I just sit and read,” 10-year-old Konnie King says.

In fact, studies show that exercise increases brain activity in mice. But can that be applied to humans as well?

Chris Adams, 10, doesn’t think so. “Exercise, it pumps the heart and not the brain.”

But one new study suggests there may indeed be a connection between sports and intelligence. Findings from the four-year study at Albion College in Michigan indicate that twice as many children who exercised regularly scored higher in math tests than those who did not.

While it’s not clear exactly why exercise helps students “learn better,” some experts suggest that burning off physical energy allows them to relax and focus.

Dr. James O’Donnell, a physical education expert and teacher, says it doesn’t take long to see the effects of exercise programs on children.

“You have to give them a couple weeks to a month or whatever, then right away they stop acting up as much, there’s less stress on them, so there’s no doubt that you can see a difference,” he says.

O’Donnell says too many parents still treat exercise and academics as separate parts of their children’s lives when, in fact, they’re related.

“Cause this is definitely good for you, not just your heart and lungs, which you’re going to need your whole life, but it will help you throughout your academic career,” O’Donnell says.

Chris wants to get good grades, so if exercise makes him smarter, he’s willing to give it a shot.

“I don’t like running laps, but I do like playing soccer and basketball and stuff,” he says.

By Tom Atwood
CWK Network

“It is helpful to think of the brain as a muscle,” Dr. John Ratey recently told colleagues at a conference on “Learning and the Brain” in Boston. Dr. Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, says the best way to “maximize the brain” is through exercise and movement. Emerging new research on animals and humans suggests his theory may be correct. In particular, the following two studies indicate that physical exercise may boost brain function, improve mood and increase learning:

• A four-year study at Albion College in Michigan shows that children who participated in regular exercise (jumping rope, hopscotch, catching and throwing balls) significantly raised their scores on standardized mathematics tests. Teachers also reported that the exercise program helped improve the students’ social and emotional skills.
  
• Investigators from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have found that running boosts the growth of nerve cells and improves learning and memory in adult mice. According to the study, the brains of mice that exercised had about 2.5 times more new nerve cells than sedentary mice.

Says Dr. Ratey: “Twelve minutes of exercise at 85% of your maximum heart rate is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin in a very holistic manner.”

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) offers the following statistics and recommendations to support that physically active children “learn better”:

• Elementary school students should participate in a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate and vigorous activity every day.
  
• Middle and high school students should participate in 30 minutes of physical activity daily.
  
• Play is an essential part of children’s social development.
  
• Children learn how to cooperate, compete constructively, assume leader/follower roles and resolve conflicts by interacting in play.
  
• Only 25% of American children participate in any type of daily physical activity.
  
• More than 300,000 deaths are caused annually by a lack of exercise and a poor diet.

How much exercise does your child need? According to the American Heart Association (AHA), a “healthy level” of physical activity requires regular participation in activities that increase heart rates above resting levels. An active child plays sports, participates in physical education classes, performs regular household chores, spends recreational time outdoors and regularly travels by foot or bicycle.

The AHA offers the following guidelines for maintaining healthy physical activity in children:

• Encourage regular walking, bicycling, outdoor play, the use of playgrounds and gymnasiums and interaction with other children.
  
• Allow no more than two hours per day to watch television or videotapes.
  
• Promote weekly participation in age-appropriate organized sports, lessons, clubs or sandlot games.
  
• Have your child participate in daily school or day-care physical education that includes at least 20 minutes of coordinated large-muscle exercise.
  
• Make sure your child has access to school buildings and community facilities that enable safe participation in physical activities.
  
• Provide opportunities for physical activities that are fun, increase confidence and involve friends and peers.
  
• Organize regular family outings that involve walking, cycling, swimming or other recreational activities.
  
• Engage in positive role modeling for a physically active lifestyle.

Experts say it is important for parents to remember that physical activity doesn’t have to be strenuous to be beneficial.

American Heart Association www.justmove.org
Howard Hughes Medical Institute www.hhmi.org
National Association for Sport and Physical Education www.aahperd.org/naspe/template.cfm?template=main.html