It’s been said that playing sports builds character — or at least reveals it. Now, there’s another trait being ascribed to athletics. Young children who play sports feel better and are able to concentrate more intently in class. They’re also more likely to land in better secondary schools.
Those are the key findings by researchers from Technical University of Munich. In a recent study of more than 6,500 boys and girls in Bavaria, they noted a clear association between physical fitness, concentration in the classroom and a better quality of life. As physical fitness increased, so did the non-athletic traits they studied.
The exact opposite was true for overweight children, who performed more poorly than their fitter counterparts in concentration and quality of life. Data for the study were collected from standardized, age-appropriate fitness tests. Likewise, concentration and quality of life were assessed using widely accepted methods.
The researchers also discovered fitness has longer-term academic implications. In Germany, parents have to choose from several types of secondary school when their children are 10 or 11 years old. These schools are tiered for less academic, intermediary and high-achieving children. Students who were more fit than their peers and able to concentrate intently were more likely to land in the better secondary schools.
Knowing more about the association between fitness and academic achievement was also put into action. Children living in the study area were all given one-year passes to local sports clubs.
So, parents, when it comes to boosting your child’s chances in the classroom, the advice is simple: Don’t drop the ball.