Secondary school students who are cramming for final exams this month can improve their concentration by adding physical activity to their schedule, according to a study done by a team under the direction of Suzanne Laberge, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Universite de Montreal.

Laberge had modest expectations when she embarked on her research. "The Comite de gestion de la taxe scolaire de l'île de Montreal wanted to know if exercise would boost academic results," she reports. "But since there are thousands of factors affecting success, most importantly socio-economic status, family life, age and life experience, we didn't think that forty-five minutes of daily exercise would outweigh these overwhelming influences".

Laberge and Paula Bush, whose work on the project constituted her master's research, set up an eighteen-week program of activities, including aerobic dance, martial arts, weight training, team sports and Playstation, for volunteer Secondary Two students at ecole Saint-Germain in Saint-Laurent.

The study found a pronounced positive correlation between involvement in the program and the students' ability to pay attention and concentrate. But closer analysis of the findings revealed that the difference was observable only in male students because, Laberge believes, growing teenaged boys need an outlet for their high levels of energy.

These findings should dispel fears that students are too excited to learn after vigorous activity. Some academic authorities had also worried that an expanded physical education program would steal time from the academic portion of the new school curriculum.

"Contrary to what some people think, when adolescents are allowed to exercise at school, they pay more attention," says Laberge. "And if that means they get better academic results, then exercise is a good thing." Her study is one of the first to show this positive effect so clearly.



Posted by: Audrey    Source

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