Over and over we talk about how living healthy can make you a more productive member in society.  A healthy employee is a better employee.  What about students?  Can it be true that a healthy student makes a better student?  Can it be true that fitness can indeed help your GPA?  The following article following this discussion conducted by the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies at University of Tennessee, Knoxville says yes.  California requires students to pass the “FitnessGram” in high school.  This is a battery of physical tests that students are asked to perform to show where they stand in physical Fitness.  Students are tested in Each of the following areas:

1.  Aerobic Capacity
2.  Muscular Endurance
3.  Muscular Strength
4.  Flexibility
5.  Body Composition

Passing the “FitnessGram requires a student to pass 4/5 exams to be considered in the Healthy fitness Zone.  The University of Tennessee has proven that the more tests one performs better on the better the student will perform on academic standardized tests (ie STAR testing).  In other words students who were in the Healthy Fitness Zone scored better on Academic Tests.
It seems to me that if we looked at PE in a way that it is actually an academic learning tool we may see it as more important.  Though it is only a Graduation requirement and not a college requirement shouldn’t we lay more importance on its true purpose?  With obesity a problem like never before in our nation,  why is it that we only require the minimum years of PE to graduate.  We now know that PE can not only help ones help but one’s academic achievement as well.

Read the Full Study Here

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