There have been many studies showing that regular exercise improves cognition. Today’s New York Times blog, How Physical Fitness May Promote School Success by Gretchen Reynolds, describes a recent study that correlates children’s physical fitness to higher academic achievement.

“More generally, in a large-scale study of almost 12,000 Nebraska schoolchildren published in August in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers compiled each child’s physical fitness, as measured by a timed run, body mass index and academic achievement in English and math, based on the state’s standardized test scores. Better fitness proved to be linked to significantly higher achievement scores, while, interestingly, body size had almost no role. Students who were overweight but relatively fit had higher test scores than lighter, less-fit children.”

The whole article can be found here.

Ms. Reynolds’ argument, that school districts should not be slashing PE budgets, can be taken further.  We as parents should make sure our children get daily exercise, not only to keep them healthy but also to boost their learning capabilities.