The Parent Trap: Are Active Kids Smarter Kids?

by Betsy McMillin

Any time you read about youth in America, you are bound to happen upon the obesity epidemic currently sweeping the nation. The overall health of our kids is at risk due to horrible diets, lack of exercise/active life styles, days filled with video games and computers as well as way too much television. As with certain parenting topics, I tend to not pay too much attention to this problem. My kids were born with genes from Dad making them all tall and slender. We have healthy diets, not too much screen time.

But skinny kids doesn’t always mean healthy kids. While children who are overweight do have more health risks, being skinny isn’t a ticket to complete health. I know being healthy means a lot more than body size, and I want healthy, successful kids.

So when I read in TIME magazine about the link between exercise and academics, I sat up and took notice. Yes, most of my kids are quite active, but not all six. I, like most parents, want to do what is best for my kids. I want to find out what is most important to them, what will prove to be the most influential aspects for them and help them make the most of their lives. While health and happiness is at the top, so is academics. When studies come out citing links to academic success, you can bet I pay heed.

While reading the TIME magazine article The Reason For Recess (January 16, 2012), I am drawn in and impressed by such claims as “physical activity can improve blood flow to the brain, fueling memory, attention and creativity, which are essential to learning” as well as “in a review of 14 studies that looked at physical activity and academic performance, investigators found that the more children moved, the better the better their grades were in school, particularly in the basic subjects of math, English and reading.”

This same article points out that students need 60 minutes a day to remain healthy, and only 18 percent of high school students meeting this, and 23 percent getting no exercise at all.

Sixty minutes a day. When you mention this to some educators, the first thing they will see is that that means 60 minutes away from traditional classroom academics. And therein lies a problem: not enough emphasis on the importance of exercise in the overall health and academic success of the students. I guess the schools need to have hard evidence to show them that their will be academic success and higher test scores due to exercise/active recess/gym class before they will implement any changes. The No Child Left Behind act did us all no favors by putting the almighty standard test score above everything else, phasing out gym, music and arts in order to fit in more “teach to the test” time.

This sixty minutes a day ties in nicely to the newer push by the NFL called “Play60,” a movement that targets childhood obesity and has a goal to get all kids active for 60 minutes a day. Check it out at www.nflrush.com/play60.

I then have to ask the question: does academic success really improve with physical exercise? Can the statistics sited above be true? Do we need to get physically healthy in order to compete on a national level academically?

Being a parent of six kids, whenever a study such as this comes out, I look at my own private McMillin study group. Granted, it isn’t the best study as far as numbers go, but I can’t help but play with the statistics anyway.

Of my six, the one who stands out as the most academic minded is, without a doubt, the most inactive. No organized sports, no hobbies or activities that fill her schedule with exercise or daily physical exertion. Sure, she gets out for a walk once in awhile or a bike ride, but nothing regular by a long shot. She has an inner drive to compete on an academic level, always has. It only increases as she gets older.

Of my two most active kids? The two that are going to sports practices and/or games three or more times a week? One does extremely well in school, one a bit above average.

And my least active? Just so happens she struggles in school.

Looking at my McMillin study group, I’m on the fence as to seeing the support suggesting one must be physically active in order to do better in school.

We do want active kids if for only health reasons alone. We all want academic success so much for our kids, and if we can pair it with a healthier lifestyle, double hooray! Multi-tasking! We want to be proud of our kids and how they can compete in the playing field of life. I found some heavy artillery for anyone doubting that exercise is a crucial part of academic success, starting with this, from “Exercise and Children’s Intelligence, Cognition, and Academic Achievement”: (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2748863/

The present review of research findings suggests that systematic exercise programs may actually enhance the development of specific types of mental processing known to be important for meeting challenges encountered both in academics and throughout the lifespan.

Also, from “Exercise Improves Kids’ Academics/Live Science”:
http://www.livescience.com/5249-exercise-improves-kids-academics.html

In his latest book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (2008, Little, Brown), John Ratey, a Harvard clinical associate professor of psychiatry, argues for more physical fitness for students as a cure for not only their obesity but also their academic performance.

“I cannot underestimate how important regular exercise is in improving the function and performance of the brain.” Ratey writes. “Exercise stimulates our gray matter to produce Miracle-Gro for the brain.” That “Miracle-Gro” is a brain chemical called brain-derived neurotropic factor, or BDNF. When we exercise, our working muscles send chemicals into our bloodstream, including a protein known as IGF-1.

Once in the brain, IGF-1 orders the production of more BDNF. The additional BDNF helps new neurons and their connections grow. In addition, levels of other neurotransmitters are increased after a strenuous exercise session.

“Dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine — all of these are elevated after exercise,” says Ratey. “So having a workout will help focus, calming down, and impulsivity.

This makes me think of all the kids I worked with (kids with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, ADD, various learning disabilities) and kids I have known who, after getting frustrated or bored or confused, acted out in class. They then ended up out in the hall or worse yet, losing recess or a special (gym). That means that much needed boost in brain “Miracle-Gro” couldn’t happen. Kids who need more than anything to have any help or extra boost in focusing, calming down, being less impulsive aren’t getting it… are punished into not getting it.

The studies all sound promising, so I decided to play devils advocate and check out a few highly intelligent people and see how they ranked in the “physically active” department.

It was a daunting task, of everyone I looked up (after Googling “most intelligent people”), only Bill Gates mentioned playing sports as a child. His dad insisted he do it. While he hated it, he said it taught him so many important things such as leadership skills and sticking it out even when you hate what you’re doing.

Everyone else (people with highest IQs) I looked up seemed to have been spending much of childhood immersed in math, sciences, and “tinkering.” Kim Ung Yonga? Too busy working for NASA at age eight to partake in a good ole baseball game.

All our kids can benefit from the incredible positive attributes of being physically active. And if school can’t meet or fill this need, it is completely up to us to see it through. Sixty minutes a day may sound like a lot (especially if your child isn’t in an organized sport), but think about how much time your kids spend on the computer, video games, ipod touch, iphone or television (or God forbid, all combined??). How much time do they spend in the car every day?

And what about those kids who just aren’t into sports or anything incredibly physical? I know, I have a couple of these kids. So I do my best to find something (anything) they like that can fill those 60 minutes. Bike riding? Dancing? Swimming? Playing a fun game of tag or obstacle course in the yard? You may have to be creative, organized sports aren’t for everyone, but being active is. Apparently, our kids health and possibly their academic success depend on it.

Still not sure? Consider this from an NPR interview with Dr. Antronete Yancey (Director, Center to Eliminate Health Disparities):

Kids pay better attention to their subjects when they’ve been active. Kids are less likely to be disruptive in terms of their classroom behavior when they’re active. Kids feel better about themselves, have higher self-esteem, less depression, less anxiety – all of those things can impair academic performance and attentiveness.

I’ll buy into for the better self-esteem alone.

• While the jury may still be out on this subject, there are a few hard facts:
• We as a nation are falling behind in the educating of our children.
• We as a nation are facing obesity concerns and multiple health issues with our children.

If the studies are incorrect and there is no link to overall health and fitness and academic success, but we push for more physical health, we will at least help address one of our problems.

If they are correct and there is a link? We deal with two problems at the same time.

Does this mean I am going to sign up my daughter (who excels in school but falls behind in the sports/activity department) for a spring sport? No, the only reason she would sign up for a sport is to beef up her upcoming college application. I know she is secure with who she is, does well in school and is not physically unfit. I will urge her to get out and a bit more, just for sanity and fresh air.

My daughter who struggles in school? She starts a new sport in a week or so.

You know, just to cover the bases.

Need a few ideas to work sixty minutes into your childs’ daily routine? Here is a list of nine ways to incorporate activity into your child’s day:
http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/35-the-benefits-of-exercise-on-your-kids-brain