Academic Performance and Participation in Physical Activity by Secondary School Adolescents

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between adolescents' academic performance and participation in physical activity. 232 boys and girls from Years 8–11 (ages 13–16 years) were randomly selected, and their academic performance was assessed on previous examination scores in English, Mathematics, and Science. Participants were also asked to list all the sports-based physical activities in which they normally participated during a typical week and to indicate how many times per week they took part in each activity and the duration of each. Overall, no significant correlations were found, although weak negative correlations were recorded between the amount of time (in minutes) in sport and exercise and English scores for children ages 13, 14, and 16 years. A similar association was also noted for Science scores of children 16 years old.