Table 1

Quasi-experimental studies examining the influence of sport, physical education or physical activity upon academic achievement.

Author
Sample
Milieu
Intervention
Outcome measure
Response

Fourestier [7]
Children in final year of primary school (13 years), 1 class, n = ?
Vanves (Paris)
Various sports and other activities, 13 h/wk increase for one year
Overall academic performance
Enhanced in experimental group
Shephard et al. [8]
546 children in grades 1 through 6
Trois Rivières, Québec
5 h of specialist physical education per week for 6 years
Teacher ratings, Standard Provincial examination, WISC tests
Enhanced teacher ratings, Maths but not English improved in Provincial exams, 3–4% gain on WISC
Sallis et al. [9]
655 children grades 5 and 6
California
27–42 min additional physical education per week for two years
Metropolitan achievement tests
Non-significant trend to gains in English, arithmetic and behaviour
Dwyer et al. [11]
500 10-year-old students
South Australia
75 min/day of endurance training
Scores for reading and arithmetic
Non-significant trend to gains in English and arithmetic at 2-year follow up
Ahamed et al. [13]
287 9–11 year old primary students
British Columbia
Added 47 min/wk of varied activities for 16 months
Canadian Achievement Test (CAT-3)
Slight trend to improved scores
Coe et al. [14]
214 grade 6 students
Western Michigan, U.S.A.
Nominal 55 min/day (actual 19 min/day) physical education for one semester
Classroom assessments and nationally standardized achievement scores
No change in academic performance except in sub-group who exercised vigorously
Raviv et al. [15]
358 kindergarten and grade 1 students
Israel
One-year movement education program
Reading skills and arithmetic skills
Both improved relative to controls

Trudeau and Shephard International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2008 5:10   doi:10.1186/1479-5868-5-10