Impact of Daily PE: Year 7 and Longitudinal Findings

Active Living Research 1. Regular participation in physical activity has academic performance benefits. 2. Single sessions of physical activity can enhance attention and memory. 3. The effects of physical activity on brain health may explain improvements in academic performance. After sitting quietly for 20 minutes. Explain what the bright red and more yellow areas of the brain mean in layman’s terms. More circulation? Greater electrical activity? …students are moving less and less. They’re learning less, too. Meanwhile, educators are more frustrated than ever. After 20 minutes of light activity.

South Carolina South Carolina and has the 13th highest adult obesity rate in the US, currently 31.7%, up from 21.1% in 2000 and from 12.0% in 1990. More than 30% of South Carolina high school students are overweight or obese. 1 in 3 low-income children ages 2 – 5 years old are overweight or obese. 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 69% of female and 46% of male high school students in South Carolina, respectively, did not participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity 5 or more days.

Year 7 Findings: Fluid Intelligence Legacy elementary and middle school males and females without adjusting for grade significantly improved on: 3 of 6 Fluid Intelligence sections (50%) 0 of 6 Fluid Intelligence sections (0.00%) for controls Control students did not significantly improve on any of the Fluid Intelligence sections at the post-test assessments.

Cognition: Legacy vs. Controls 2013-2016

Year 7: Fitness Legacy Charter School students significantly improved on: 12 of 12 (100%) fitness measures [i.e., PACER, muscular strength and muscular, endurance] by gender and grade level. Control school students observed no significant fitness improvements: (0 of 12; 0.00%) by gender and grade level. Decreases (8 of 12; 66%) in fitness performance by grade and gender was also observed at the post-test assessments among control school students.

Fitness: Legacy vs. Controls 2013-2016

Year 7: Body Composition Legacy elementary school students had a significant decrease in BMI percentile vs. controls: -1.82 vs. -0.51. Legacy middle school students had a significant decrease in BMI percentile vs. an increase among controls: of -0.94 vs. 0.52.

Longitudinal: Body Composition BMI percentile increases were significantly greater for controls compared to Legacy Charter school elementary students from 2014-2016. (3.15 vs. -0.51). Control elementary school students had a significant increase in BMI compared to Legacy Charter elementary school students from 2015-2016. (3.33 vs. 1.52)

BMI Elementary School Level: 2015-2016

Conclusions Providing 45 minutes of daily physical education to all students at Legacy Charter School can impact: Cognition Aerobic Capacity, Muscular Strength and Muscular Endurance Reduce the percentages of overweight and obese youth