Study: Phys ed may boost girls' academic achievement

Time spent in physical education does not detract from elementary school students' ability to excel in the classroom and may even help improve girls' academic performance, a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

School administrators say that as pressure increases for students to perform well in reading and math, time for extracurricular activities such as physical education is reduced.

The new study is unique because it confirms on a national level what some smaller, localized studies have concluded, says CDC epidemiologist Susan Carlson, the paper's first author. Published online in the Journal of American Public Health, the study indicates that trimming physical education programs may not be the best way to raise test scores in schools.

Using public data, researchers tracked the reading and math skills of more than 5,000 students between kindergarten and fifth grade as shown on a series of standardized tests. They discovered that girls who received the highest levels of physical education, or 70 to 300 minutes a week, scored consistently higher on the tests than those who spent less than 35 minutes a week.

Though they found no significant change in academic achievement for boys, Carlson speculated that a higher level of physical activity might be needed to yield the same result because boys are commonly more active than girls.

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