Incidence of school failure according to baseline leisure-time physical activity practice: prospective study

Academic Achievement and Physical Activity: The Ideal Relationship to Promote a Healthier Lifestyle in Adolescents

BACKGROUND

School environment provides several intervention opportunities for physical activity. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between objectively assessed moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and academic achievement in adolescents.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data were collected from 301 students aged between 13 and 15 years (46.51% boys), enrolled at 7 secondary schools in the city of Huesca (Spain). Participants wore accelerometers during a 7-day period, and their academic achievement was calculated from the average marks of all subjects. Structural equation modeling and quadratic regression analysis were performed to test both linear and nonlinear explanatory models. One-way analysis of variance was also performed to explore the effect of gender and the percentage of compliance with MVPA recommendations.

RESULTS

MVPA on weekdays and higher levels of body mass index were negatively associated with academic achievement. According to the curvilinear relationship, those students whose MVPA levels were closer to the daily recommendation were more likely to obtain higher academic achievement. However, a significant association was only shown in the case of boys.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents who satisfy the international recommendations tend to obtain better academic achievement. Therefore, MVPA for adolescents should be prescribed within some beneficial time margins (50-70 min/d).

Association between leisure-time activities and school failure in adolescents: The 1993 Birth Cohort

Aim

To evaluate the relationship between leisure-time activities at 11 years old and the incidence of school failures from 11 to 15 years in adolescents.

Methods

The sample comprised 4,090 adolescents from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort, Brazil. The outcome was measured as the number of school failures from 11 to 15 years, based on reported information from cohort participants and their parents. The exposures were collected at 11 years old, as follows: reading; meeting friends; talking to parents; and dating.

Results

In the group from 11 to 15 years old, 53.3% failed at school at least once. Meeting friends 4–7 times/week (RR = 1.15) and dating 1–3 times/week (RR = 1.22) were associated with high risk for school failure. Reading showed an inverse relationship with school failures (1–3 times/week RR = 0.83; 4–7 times/week RR = 0.71). Reading at least once a week could prevent around 16% of school failures.

Conclusion

The context in which adolescents are inserted plays a relevant role in school performance. Understanding these factors may help to propose actions to reduce school failure rates even further.

Physical Activity throughout Adolescence and Cognitive Performance at 18 Years of Age

Purpose

This study aimed to examine the prospective associations of physical activity at 11, 15, and 18 yr of age with cognitive performance in young adulthood in a large birth cohort study from Brazil.

Methods

Participants were part of a large birth cohort study in Pelotas, Brazil (n = 3235 participants). Physical activity was self-reported at 11, 15, and 18 yr and was also objectively measured at 18 yr. Cognitive performance was assessed using an adapted Brazilian version of the short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale at 18 yr.

Results

At 11 yr, participants in the middle tertile of self-reported physical activity presented a significantly higher cognitive performance score as compared with the lowest tertile. Physical activity at 15 yr of age was unrelated to cognitive performance at 18 yr. Self-reported physical activity was cross-sectionally positively associated with cognitive performance at 18 yr (P < 0.001). Data from objectively measured physical activity at 18 yr showed that those in the highest moderate-to-vigorous physical activity tertile presented lower cognitive performance scores at 18 yr as compared with those in the lowest tertile (−2.59; 95% confidence interval (CI), −3.41 to −1.48). Analyses on changes in tertiles of physical activity showed that maintaining an intermediate physical activity level from 11 to 18 yr and from 15 to 18 yr was associated with a higher cognitive performance score of 2.31 (95% CI, 0.71–3.91) and 1.84 score (95% CI, 0.25–3.42), respectively.

Conclusions

Physical activity throughout adolescence is associated with cognitive performance before adulthood. Adolescents who are active at moderate levels, specifically those who maintain these levels of physical activity, tend to show higher cognitive performance. However, high levels of physical activity might impair cognitive performance.

Study of school fatigue on a group of teenagers studying at "dimitrie cantemir" highschool, iaşi

Purpose. Fatigue is a physiological phenomenon which is permanently present at students because of the scholar demands. Excessive demands can cause pathological fatigue phenomenon, which should be avoided. Subjects and method. The study included a group of 203 students from Dimitrie Cantemir Highschool in Iaşi. The teenagers were questioned about the presence of the fatigue phenomenon. Results. Fatigue is rarely present at 62.6% of the questioned students. During the week, this phenomenon appears especially at the beginning (22.2%) or in the middle of the week (34.5%). In a few cases it appears at the end of the week, as it should. Night sleep is only of 6-7 hours (37.4%) or 7-8 hours (36.9%), which is not enough.The insufficient number of sleeping hours can be paid by day sleep, but most of the responses are "rarely" (50.7%). Active rest is represented by sport or other activities of choice. Sport is the only less attractive option - in most cases children allocate only 15-30 minutes a day for it (33.5%). They stay in front of the TV between 0.5 and 1 hour (42.9%) and of the computer between 2-3 hours (44.3%) daily. Conclusions. Children's daily schedule isn't balanced, so the risk of excessive fatigue really exists.