Exercise and its association with childhood health and development

1. Dr. Gavin Sandercock,
University of Essex &
www.fitmediafitness.co.uk
gavins@essex.ac.uk
@grhsandercock
@FitmediaFitness
info@fitmediafitness.co.uk
Exercise and its association with childhood
health and development

2. Exercise:
Purposeful – Exercise
(Training & Playing Sports)
Incidental - Physical Activity
(Play, Dance, Active Travel)
3x ↓ CVD Risk
↑ Metabolic Health
↑ Bone Health
↑ Weight Regulation
↑ (Physical) Self-Efficay
↑ Educational Attainment
↑ Cognitive Function
↑ Self-Esteem
↑ Attendance & Behaviour
↑ Employability & Earning
World Peace
1985 World Health
Organization Mandate 53

3. Outline
• Monitoring children’s development
• Associations between Exercise & Attainment
• Does increasing curriculum time for exercise affect attainment?
• Psychological & Psychosocial benefits of exercise
• Guide to promoting development of lifelong exercise

4. Monitoring Development
Academic - Attainment
Physical – Activity & Fitness
Psychological – Wellbeing

7. Age 5 Age 11 Age 16
Academic/Cognitive
Development
Physical
Development
Height &
Weight
Height &
Weight Can you swim 25 m?

8. 10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1998 2004 2008 2014
Fitness
BMIPercentileScore
Expected Value
(Global Average)
* No data available for 2004 so data point is
interpolated based on 1998-2008 trend
*

9. • Weak (r=0.2-0.4) association between overall PA and
academic attainment
• Moderate effect size for association between fitness
and attainment
• Inconclusive evidence whether interventions that
increase PA improve attainment

10. Extracurricular Activities
and Overall Levels of
Physical Activity:
Levels of overall
physical activity in the
classroom:

11. Fastest Slowest
Mile Run
Fastest Slowest
Mile Run
MathScoreCAT6
ReadingScoreCAT6
Strongest association:
Least fit 20% (5th Quintile)*

12. Aerobic fitness strongly associated
with Math & Language
Smaller effects for: strength and
agility
Mathematics
Language

13. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
10 11 12 13 14 15
%Obese
%Unfit
Aerobic Fitness & Fatness in
English Schoolchildren
Unfit = Score in (5th Quintile)*
Predicts 3.5 x higher risk of adult CVD
Year 6
SATs
Year 11
GCSEs

14. Increasing curriculum
time for physical
education:
Larger ‘dose’ of exercise:
120 min/wk ↑ to 300 min/wk
Smallest ‘dose’ of exercise:
↑ of an additional 27 min/week
Largest ‘dose’ of exercise:
120 min/wk ↑ to 375 min/wk
Does increasing curriculum time for exercise negatively impact
attainment?
Typical ‘dose’ of exercise:
↑ of an additional 90-120 min/week
No data from UK schools

15. How do children learn as well or better if they
are more active at school: potential mechanisms
Biological
or
Psychophysiological
Psychological
Psychosocial

16. Fitness and Cognitive Processing Speed in Children from
a Deprived Area. (Sandercock et al. Unpublished)
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Fit
Unfit
ProcessingSpeed

17. PA &
Exercise
Academic
Attainment
Cognitive
Performance
Self-Efficacy is a major determinant of Physical Activity
& higher self-efficacy predicts learning and attainment
Physical
Fitness
Exercise improves self-esteem – Higher
self-esteem is associated with better
coping, and higher attainment
Active breaks improve behaviour and
learning is improved in classrooms of well-
behaved children
Mediators
Active Children lower rates of school
absence due to illness – so they
don’t miss important lessons

18. Figure
The Journal of Pediatrics 2005 146, 732-737DOI: (10.1016/j.jpeds.2005.01.055)
Exercise to Promote & Develop FMS
↑ Self-Efficacy &
Self Esteem
↑ Engagement in
Exercise (& Sport?)
↑ Cognition &
Attainment
Lifelong
Engagement in
Exercise (& Sport?)
↑ Health &
Wellbeing
↑ Lifelong
Health &
Wellbeing
Promote and
Maintain (Esp.
Aerobic) Fitness

19. Evaluation of FMS Intervention via the Primary PESS Premium:
1 y follow-up in less able pupils (Sandercock et al. in press)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
BMI (n=53) SBJ (n=12) Handgrip (n=22) Sit Ups (n=32) 20 m Shuttle-run
(n=66)
Baseline (2013)
Follow-up (2014)
PercentileScore
Less able = Score in (5th Quintile) or 3rd Tertile *Jump & Sit Ups

20. Summer born babies:
Do less well at school (all key stages)
Less likely to attend university
Earn less across lifespan
Less likely to become centegenarians
<Half as likely to represent school
7 x less likely to play elite youth sport
3 x less likely to be professional athletes

21. Summary
• Exercise promotes physical health and fitness
• Fitness* associated with higher academic attainment
• Mechanisms: biological, self-esteem, self-efficacy &
improved behaviour
• Children learn better/faster if they exercise/are fitter*
• ↑PE curriculum time to 75 min/d
• Without negative impact on academic attainment
• Develop FMS*: Promotes Fitness* & ↑Self-Efficacy*
• Greatest benefit in least fit* / lowest attaining children
• *Requires assessment & monitoring of physical
development:
• Meaningful: Benchmark against national standards
• Sensitive: Identify those in need of ‘remedial’ action
• Educational: Provide feedback & re-assess to show progress

22. Last thoughts before questions....?
0
10
20
30
40
10 11 12 13 14 15
%Obese
%Unfit
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
BMI (n=53) SBJ (n=12) Handgrip
(n=22)
Sit Ups
(n=32)
20 m
Shuttle-run
(n=66)
Baseline (2013)
Follow-up (2014)
Thank you....