Primary school students' physical activity and readability performance at school: Is there any connection?

In the present study, we examined if there is any relationship between physical activity levels and reading ability in young students. Three hundred and forty eight students (176 boys and 172 girls) of 5th and 6th grades from... [ view full abstract ]

In the present study, we examined if there is any relationship between physical activity levels and reading ability in young students. Three hundred and forty eight students (176 boys and 172 girls) of 5^th and 6^th grades from 10 primary schools in Central Greece participated in the study. The Youth Activity Profile questionnaire and a standardized readability test for the Greek language were used. All scales had acceptable levels of internal consistency (α > .60). One-way analysis of variance showed that students who were involved in organized sports had better scores in readability test in comparison to those who didn’t participate (F_1,345= 8,112 , p< .05). Also, students from wealthy families had better scores in the specific test than those who come from poor families (F_2.332=5.686 p<.05).Furthermore, students who were active during their leisure time had higher scores in readability test compared with those who did not (F_1.332=7.167, p<.05). There were no gender differences in relation to readability test. Correlational analysis revealed positive relationship between readability test scores and students’ physical activity outside from school and negative relationship with sedentary behaviors. Finally, regression analysis revealed that physical activity outside from school had positive contribution in predicting readability performance (beta=.269 p < .001) while sedentary behaviors had negative contribution (beta= -.153 p < .05). These results clearly imply that students who either engage in organized sport or exercise during their leisure time may significantly benefit at school performance too.