Exercise promotes academic success among children

A high-intensity interval training (HIIT)-based exercise programme not only boosts fitness in children, with a recent study in Mongolia showing that it also linked to improved academic achievement.

“We found that the effect size differed by academic subject between residential areas. Urban area participants greatly improved their mathematics scores (6.17 points in urban area; 2.71 points in mixed residential area), and mixed residential area participants greatly improved their Mongolian language scores (2.25 points in urban area; 7.42 points in mixed residential area),” which is in line with a previous meta-analysis, according to a team of researchers based in Asia. [Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2017;14:11]

The findings suggest that learning can be enhanced by exercise, they said. They also raise questions about the wisdom of trend of slashing physical education programmes to prioritize the traditional academic subjects within the school context. [https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/contact/OECD_FUTURE_OF_EDUCATION_2030_MAKING_PHYSICAL_DYNAMIC_AND_INCLUSIVE_FOR_2030.pdf]

“Schools are among the most appropriate settings to provide physical activity intervention for children in low-to-middle-income countries, where children have fewer opportunities for structured after-school sports activities and are less exposed to health information promoting physical activities outside school,” the team pointed out.

“Furthermore, at school, interventions can be delivered equitably to a large portion of the school-aged population, including the socially disadvantaged,” they added.

Jumps, squats bear fruit in the classroom

The population-based cluster trial involved 2,101 fourth-grade students from 10 public primary schools in a district of Ulaanbaatar. The schools were allocated to the intervention (five schools, n=1,069) or control group (five schools, n=1,032) by using urban and mixed residential area stratified block randomization.

Children in schools assigned to the intervention programme attended a 10–25-minute exercise session that comprised a 3-minute main HIIT exercise phase involving jumps, squats, and various steps. Each session was conducted twice weekly over 10 weeks. The control group received the usual physical education class. The primary outcome was academic achievement assessed by scores (the sum of mathematics and Mongolian language scores) on the national examination, with total scores ranging from 0 to 200 points.

At the end of the trial, academic achievement was greater in the intervention group than in the control group. In particular, children in urban areas who underwent the HIIT exercise programme showed an 8.36-point improvement (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 6.06–10.66) in total academic scores as compared with their counterparts in the control group. [Pediatrics 2021;doi:10.1542/peds.2021-052808]

Meanwhile, the HIIT exercise programme also benefitted children in mixed residential areas, with a slightly higher improvement in total academic scores (9.55 points, 95 percent CI, 6.58–12.51).

The intervention was generally safe, with no intervention-associated injuries documented.

While routine physical activity has an established benefit on children’s cognitive function and mental health, the HIIT exercise programme in the present study did not produce a significant change in either outcome.

“We mainly compared the effects of the HIIT program and the usual physical education class activities, and the Flanker test, [which was] conducted in a large group, may not have been a valid measure,” the researchers pointed out.

Regardless, the present cluster trial is the first to examine the effects of an HIIT-based exercise programme delivered at schools in a population-based setting in a developing country, they said. “The effects of HIIT-based exercise on academic achievement may be greater for children with lower preintervention academic achievement, implying that exercise can reduce inequity among children.”

They also acknowledged that the higher academic achievement seen among children who did the HIIT-based exercises might have been influenced by the national examination score’s ceiling effect.

If validated in further studies, the benefit of exercise has the potential to promote further educational policy change and social implementation, according to the researchers.