Effects of Physical Activity and Exercise on Primary School Children's Academic Performance - Essay Example

As excellent academic performance is directly associated with school admission and later on job opportunities, it has constantly been a concern for parents and students alike. In periods of tightening budgets and continuing censure of the academic performance of public schools, the inclination to defer subsidy for extra-curricular activities and physical activity and exercise is more forceful than ever which consequently contributes to the general health problem, increase in school days missed by students, and academic performance. Children in primary schools confront health problems and the present concern about the commonness of childhood obesity has turned out to be one of the most pressing concerns in the Western world today, particularly in the United States. The effects of physical activity and physical education as such on the body can stimulate different parts of the brain, have positive effects on academic performance, and direct children towards a lifestyle that is physically fit and healthy. This kind of education in a sense is balanced since all three dimensions, namely, cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor are developed, and one dimension does not take primacy over another.

About, there is a twofold objective to this paper. The first objective is to review related literature on the effect of physical activity or physical education in primary schools on children’s academic performance. Even though several classroom teachers believe physical activity and physical education are not that important, dedicated professionals in physical education, opposite to the myth, can be effective in helping them acknowledge the significant contribution of physical activity and exercise in achieving and maintaining good health and improving academic performance.

Studies examining findings from roughly 50,000 students between the 1960s and 2006 have investigated the relationship between physical activity and academic performance. A number of those studies discovered that consistent participation in physical activity is related to enhanced academic performance.