from www.edweek.com
Exercise and Academic Success
April 10, 2008 With schools in the United States cutting back on physical education in order to meet the goals of "No Child Left Behind", studies are starting to show that this is a move in the wrong direction. For example, a study involving 163 overweight children in Augusta, Georgia, reported in Education Week (February 13, 2008; www.edweek.org) supports the cognitive benefits of exercise:Experience is the comb that nature gives us when we are bald.
Belgian Proverb
"For that study, a cross-disciplinary research team randomly assigned children to one of three groups. One group received 20 minutes of physical activity every day after school. Another group got a 40-minute daily workout, and a third group got no special exercise sessions.
"After 14 weeks, the children who made the greatest improvement as measured by a standardized academic test and a test that measured their level of executive function — thinking processes that involve planning, organizing, abstract thought, or self-control — were those who spent 40 minutes a day playing tag and taking part in other active games designed by the researchers. The cognitive and academic gains for the 20-minute-a-day group were half as large."
Thursday, April 10, 2008
More science regarding exercise and brain power
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5 comments:
This started loooong before "no child left behind".
Tony,
When you explained the results of this study to us all last weekend in DC, I was actually not surprised. Our bodies were designed to move. In fact, improving cognitive function is directly correlated with movement and exercise. Old-school playing tag in the school yard is great before a test--I know from personal experience more than 30 years ago...my anxiety levels sank but my reasoning ability skyrocketed. Consequently, I still use the same technique today, whether it's 10-minute trainer or P90X plus in the early morning before work...guarantees a great day!
Nick
This is so true. I know I am never more up for a stressful day at work than just after a morning workout or after a great night's sleep following an evening workout.
I recently moved into a new home (never owned a home before). About 2 weeks before my move, I stopped working out and stopped eating right. I didn't pick things back up until about two weeks after the move. A month of no workouts and bad eating left me with no energy, no focus and completely stressed out.
Last week I started Week 1 of P90X. What a difference! Despite the fact that these workouts are tough as hell, I'm coping with some muscle soreness, and I feel like puking after Plyometrics X, I am sleeping WAY better, I'm much more motivated and focused at work, and my stess level is way down.
Society has made it so easy for kids to get lazy. My brother and my daughter both have very young kids(toddlers and infant) they both put the babies in front of the tv and computer and tell everyone that the videos/computer are educational. Heck when I was young all I did was go out and play.
Get our kids out to play, show them how to have fun if we have to.
karen1984
Society has made it so easy for kids to get lazy. My brother and my daughter both have very young kids(toddlers and infant) they both put the babies in front of the tv and computer and tell everyone that the videos/computer are educational. Heck when I was young all I did was go out and play.
Get our kids out to play, show them how to have fun if we have to.
karen1984
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