After several years working
exclusively as an outpatient physical therapist, I returned to school-based
therapy when I returned from Guyana. So far I am loving it. It has been a great
experience and some days I cannot believe I get paid to play all day. However,
there is one thing that I had forgotten about: how much of the day students
sit.
Students sit and sit and
sit. And then teachers are surprised that they don't act well. As a physical
therapist, I want to yell: Get up and move! But I work only with the students
in special ed, so it's not my place, right? Not so fast. Evidence backs me up.
We all know a sedentary lifestyle
increases the risk of early morbidity and mortality and don’t you think that
those behaviors start as a child? Plus, it is well-established that physical
activity and sports have a positive effect on children's physical health. Regular
participation in physical activity in childhood is associated with a decreased
cardiovascular risk in youth and adulthood.
In an age where 1/3rd of
our children are obese and 1/12th have or will have diabetes, this
should be justification enough. But there’s more! Numerous studies have looked
at the effects of physical activity and
its beneficial effects on many mental health outcomes, including quality of
life and improved mood states. Throw in better coping strategies, self-esteem
and lower rates of anxiety and depression and physical activity at school seems
a no-brainer!
Beyond mental and physical health
outcomes, evidence has begun to emerge supporting a link between physical
activity, cognitive function, and academic achievement. Cardiorespiratory
fitness, speed-agility, motor coordination, and perceptual-motor skill all
appear to be associated with improvements in cognitive and academic performance.
A meta-analysis published in 2013, suggested that while physical activity in
general improved cognitive outcomes, the largest effect size was with
cardiovascular exercise. This is consistent with Lees and Hopkins’ study that
revealed aerobic physical activity to be positively associated with cognition,
academic achievement, behavior, and psychosocial functioning outcomes (Lees). Being
cardiovascularly healthy improves their brain function!
A review article in the Journal
of American Medicine Pediatrics summarized the hypothesized rationale for
improved academic performance with higher levels of physical activity. They
cited that there are three hypothesized mechanisms which include (1) increased
blood and oxygen flow to the brain; (2) improvement in mood and reduction of
stress due to increased levels of norepinephrine and endorphins and/or (3)
increased growth factors that help to create new nerve cells and support
synaptic plasticity. By increasing a child’s physical activity levels, we are
in turn allowing them an improvement in their learning potential while
decreasing their stress.
Although schools are able to
offer unique opportunities for structured physical activity for children, there
is a tendency to cut back physical education and reduce the amount of physical
activity afforded students during the school day. The increasing pressures to
improve academic scores often lead to additional instructional time for
subjects such as mathematics and language at the cost of time for being
physically active. Integrating physical activity into the classroom may
increase learning and offset the decreasing physical education classes and
recess. One recent systematic review found that physically active academic
lessons of moderate intensity improved overall performance on a standardized
test of academic achievement by 6% compared to a decrease of 1% for controls.
I am in the process of proposing
a kinesthetic learning lab for the elementary school that I work at. This would
allow students that opportunity to be active while learning through a variety
of aerobic exercise machines and activities. The hope would be that this would
help supplement the limited physical education and short recess offerings that
they get throughout the week. It’s in its infancy but I am very excited about
the possibility of helping improve both wellness and academic performance.
Here’s the thing though, schools
cannot do it all. Parents need to be on board to promote and model healthy
behaviors and physical activity at home. Which can be tricky. You work all day and just want to relax when
you get home. But this really is time when you can model healthful behaviors
for your children. Go for a walk, play outside or(if you live up north) make a
snowman. The key is to instill upon them a love of the outdoors and being
active so they want to do it.
Together we can create a
healthier and smarter next generation.
Until next time,
Danny
