Association between regularly performed physical activity and academic performance in female adolescents from middle to high school

Abstract

Regular participation in regularly performed physical activity (PA) is recommended for proper development of rapidly changing physical and psychological status of adolescents. Despite the importance of proper PA, various prioritizing factors in adolescents’ daily lives such as competitive academic performance deter regular participation. This study has been conducted to analyze impact of PA on academic performance (grades) for middle to high school female adolescents. 20th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey data with 8 factors were utilized for the study. 25,668 female adolescents across six grade levels (M1, M2, M3, H1, H2, H3) were grouped to sedentary (SG: 2 or fewer days/wk) and physically active (PG: 3 or more days/wk) groups based on their weekly PA days and compared. Also, each incremented day of PA (0- through 7-day PA) was further compared. Although SG and PG showed mixed results, incremented PA days showed either significantly better academic performances or no difference. Significant poor academic performances were shown for 7-day PA compared to 0-day PA for M2 (2.88± 1.19 vs. 3.25± 1.17), M3 (2.84± 1.20 vs. 3.23± 1.23), H3 (3.02± 1.08 vs. 3.51± 1.09). Although body mass index (BMI) of each grade level was within normal range for all PA groups, significantly increased BMI was shown in SG groups. Moreover, perceived effort on weight control (effort) was shown for all 7-day PA groups compared to all 0-day PA groups. In conclusion, regularly performed PA may positively influence or have no effect on academic performance. However, excessive PA aimed at weight control may have a negative impact.