What makes the study interesting is that it is a longitudinal study amongst a large group of men (1,221,727) born in 1950 and tracked through 1976. The group included full-sibling pairs, twin pairs, and monozygotic twin pairs (identical). Both physical fitness and intelligence performance data were collected and linked with other national databases for information on school achievement, socio-economic status, and sibship.
Cardiovascular fitness was measured by ergometer cycling and muscle strength by strength tests. Discarding heritability and non-shared environmental influences, the results were striking:
Cardiovascular fitness, not muscle strength, at age 18 years is associated with cognitive performance. Cardiovascular fitness changes between age 15 and 18 predicted cognitive performance at 18 years. Propositional-hazards models showed that cardiovascular fitness at age 18 predicted educational achievements later in life!
Various forms of intelligence exists and the research shows cardiovascular fitness increases:
- Global intelligence
- Logical intelligence
- Verbal intelligence
- Visiospatial intelligence
- Verbal intelligence
- Technical intelligence
The study concluded that "these data substantiate that physical exercise could be an important instrument for public health initiatives to optimize educational achievements, cognitive performance, as well as disease prevention at the society level".
So why is physical activity not a priority nor a part as we reshape the Education model in America?
No comments:
Post a Comment