Exercise Improves Kids' Academics
The end of 2008 brings some discouraging news about our kids' brains and brawn. Recent results from an international math and science test show United States students are performing near the middle of the pack compared to other countries, while their levels of obesity continue to climb.
Historically, these two trends were studied independently with plans of action developed for each. However, several researchers and a new book have been making the case for linking these two problems by showing the effects of aerobic exercise not only on a student's fitness level but also on their test scores.
Earlier this month, the latest (2007) TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and science Study) scores were released. They compare fourth grade students from 36 countries and eighth grade students from 48 countries. They were tested on subjects that were common to all of the countries, including algebra, geometry, chemistry and physics. Overall, 425,000 students participated in the test, which is administered every four years.
In math, American fourth graders came in at 11th place of the 36 countries while eighth graders scored ninth out of 48. Hong Kong and Taiwan ranked first for fourth grade and eighth grade, respectively. In science, Singapore topped the list for both fourth grade and eighth grade, with U.S. science students taking eighth place and 11th place.
While the American math scores have improved slightly, the science scores have dropped. In 2003, U.S. fourth graders were in sixth place in the world and eighth graders were in ninth place. Only 6 percent of U.S. eighth-grade students reached the TIMSS "advanced" level in math, compared to 45 percent of students in Chinese Taipei, 40 percent in Korea, 40 percent in Singapore, 31 percent in Hong Kong, 26 percent in Japan and 10 percent in Hungary.
Regarding student fitness, the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the percentage of overweight or obese 6- to 11-year-olds has tripled since 1980, with more than 125 million children at unhealthy levels.
Leaping backward
Ironically, one of the solutions proposed for raising test scores, the federal No Child Left Behind program, encourages schools to focus more of the school day on the core academic subjects while reducing class time in peripheral subjects, like art, music, and physical education. In fact, only 6 percent of American high schools offer a daily gym class. Yet a 2002 Virginia Tech study showed no relationship between reduced class time in those subjects and higher overall standardized tests.
In his latest book, "Spark: The Revolutionary New science of Exercise and the Brain" (2008, Little, Brown), John Ratey, a Harvard clinical associate professor of psychiatry, argues for more physical fitness for students as a cure for not only their obesity but also their academic performance.
"I cannot underestimate how important regular exercise is in improving the function and performance of the brain." Ratey writes. "Exercise stimulates our gray matter to produce Miracle-Gro for the brain." That "Miracle-Gro" is a brain chemical called brain-derived neurotropic factor, or BDNF. When we exercise, our working muscles send chemicals into our bloodstream, including a protein known as IGF-1.
Once in the brain, IGF-1 orders the production of more BDNF. The additional BDNF helps new neurons and their connections grow. In addition, levels of other neurotransmitters are increased after a strenuous exercise session.
"Dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine — all of these are elevated after exercise," says Ratey. "So having a workout will help focus, calming down, and impulsivity — it's like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin."
Evidence mounts
Research showing a link between fitness and academics is growing.
The California Department of Education (CDE) looked for a correlation between fitness scores and test scores. They found that kids who were deemed fit (by a standard test of aerobic capacity, BMI, abdominal strength, trunk strength, upper body strength and overall flexibility) scored twice as well on academic tests as those that were unfit. In the second year of the study, socio-economic status was taken into account, to possibly eliminate that variable as an explanation. As expected, those in the upper-income brackets scored better overall on the academic tests, but within the lower-income set of students, the same results were observed — kids who were more fit performed better academically.
Charles Hillman, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois, was able to duplicate these findings with 259 third and fifth-grade Illinois students. His team also noticed that two of the tests, BMI and aerobic capacity, were significantly more influential to higher academic scores than the other four fitness factors. Digging deeper, he isolated two groups of 20 students, one fit and the other unfit. They were given cognitive tests of attention, working memory and processing speed while their brain's electrical activity was being measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG) test.
The fit kids' brains showed more activity in the prefrontal cortex, known for its executive function and control over other brain processes.
So, just send the kids on a fast jog and they will ace all of their tests? Not quite.
“The exercise itself doesn't make you smarter, but it puts the brain of the learners in the optimal position for them to learn,” Ratey said. “There's no way to say for sure that improves learning capacity for kids, but it certainly seems to correlate to that."
2008年底，幾則關(guān)于美國青少年學(xué)習(xí)和健康的消息，有些不盡人意。國際數(shù)學(xué)和科學(xué)競賽的結(jié)果顯示，美國學(xué)生的表現(xiàn)，相對(duì)其他國家來說，勉強(qiáng)位列中游，但他們肥胖的程度卻在繼續(xù)加深。
之前，對(duì)上述兩個(gè)問題的研究都是單獨(dú)設(shè)計(jì)并獨(dú)立完成的。但現(xiàn)在已有研究人員在他們的新作中將這兩個(gè)問題聯(lián)系在一起，并闡述了有氧運(yùn)動(dòng)不僅對(duì)學(xué)生身體產(chǎn)生影響，對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)成績也同樣有效果。
本月初，國際數(shù)學(xué)與科學(xué)研究趨勢（TIMSS）雜志發(fā)表了新版（2007年）評(píng)價(jià)報(bào)告。他們對(duì)36個(gè)國家的四年級(jí)學(xué)生和48個(gè)國家的八年級(jí)學(xué)生進(jìn)行了比較。所有國家的學(xué)生被測試的學(xué)科都一樣，包括代數(shù)、幾何、化學(xué)和物理。共有425，000名學(xué)生參與了這項(xiàng)四年的測試。
數(shù)學(xué)方面，美國四年級(jí)的學(xué)生，在36個(gè)國家中位列第11位；八年級(jí)的學(xué)生，在48個(gè)國家中，則位列第九。香港和臺(tái)灣則分列這兩個(gè)級(jí)別首位；在科學(xué)方面，新加坡在四年級(jí)和八年級(jí)中均排名第一，而美國則分列第八和第十一位。
美國學(xué)生的數(shù)學(xué)成績盡管有所進(jìn)步，但科學(xué)成績卻下降了。2003年，美國四年級(jí)學(xué)生的成績排在第六位，而八年級(jí)排在第九位。按TIMSS的“優(yōu)秀”標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，美國八年級(jí)學(xué)生僅有6%能夠在數(shù)學(xué)上達(dá)到要求，而中國臺(tái)北學(xué)生的比例是45%，韓國48%，新加坡40%，香港31%，日本26%，匈牙利10%。
在學(xué)生的健康方面，來自疾病控制和預(yù)防中心的新數(shù)據(jù)顯示，自1980年以來，6-11歲超重或肥胖的比例已增長了3倍，有超過1250萬兒童處于非健康狀態(tài)。
大步后退
具有諷刺意味的是，為提高成績，相關(guān)部門提出了一個(gè)解決方案，暨“聯(lián)邦無人落后計(jì)劃”。該方案鼓勵(lì)學(xué)校將更多時(shí)間集中在主課上，同時(shí)減少類似藝術(shù)、音樂和體育等副科的上課時(shí)間。而現(xiàn)在的實(shí)際情況是，能夠安排每天體育課的美國高中也僅占6%。另外，2002年弗吉尼亞州的一項(xiàng)技術(shù)研究表明，副科上課時(shí)間的減少，與提高整體測試成績并沒有相關(guān)性。
哈佛大學(xué)精神病學(xué)臨床助理教授John Ratey，在其新作《火花：鍛煉與大腦的革命性新科學(xué)》中闡述說，學(xué)生更多地參加體育鍛煉可以治療肥胖同時(shí)提高學(xué)習(xí)成績。
John Ratey 寫道：“常規(guī)的體育鍛煉對(duì)大腦的功能和表現(xiàn)起到的重要性，是不能被低估的。鍛煉可以刺激我們大腦的灰質(zhì)部分，從而產(chǎn)生Miracle-Gro“?！癕iracle-Gro”是大腦中的一種化學(xué)物質(zhì)，名為腦導(dǎo)神經(jīng)營養(yǎng)因子,簡稱BDNF。當(dāng)我們進(jìn)行鍛煉時(shí)，活動(dòng)中的肌肉組織將包括一種名為“IGF-1的化學(xué)物質(zhì)送入我們的血液中，。
一旦進(jìn)入大腦，IGF-1便會(huì)發(fā)出指令產(chǎn)生更多的BDNF。而BDNF可幫助新的神經(jīng)元生長和連接。另外，經(jīng)過高強(qiáng)度的鍛煉，神經(jīng)傳導(dǎo)素的水平也得到了提高。
Ratey說:”鍛煉后，多巴胺、血清素和降腎上腺素都得到了提高。因此，體育鍛煉能夠有助于提高注意力、穩(wěn)定情緒和減少?zèng)_動(dòng)，就像服用了一點(diǎn)百憂界和利它林。
更多的證據(jù)
有關(guān)健康與學(xué)習(xí)成績的關(guān)系的相關(guān)研究越來越多。
加利福尼亞教育部(CDE)調(diào)查了健康水平和測試分?jǐn)?shù)的相關(guān)性。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，經(jīng)過一套標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化測試后，（該測試內(nèi)容包括有氧能力測試、BMI、腹部力量、下肢力量、上身力量以及整體柔韌性等），被認(rèn)定為健康的孩子與那些不健康的孩子相比，學(xué)習(xí)成績高出兩倍。在第二年的研究中，為了減少社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)因素對(duì)研究的影響，也將這個(gè)因素考慮進(jìn)去，正如預(yù)期一樣，在學(xué)習(xí)成績上，高收入的人群的分?jǐn)?shù)整體上會(huì)更高；但在低收入學(xué)生中，也觀察到了同樣的結(jié)果，既身體越健康成績會(huì)越好。
伊力諾依大學(xué)運(yùn)動(dòng)機(jī)能學(xué)副教授Charles Hillman對(duì)該州259名3、4年級(jí)的學(xué)生進(jìn)行的調(diào)查中，也印證了上述結(jié)果。他帶領(lǐng)的團(tuán)隊(duì)同樣注意到，BMI和有氧運(yùn)動(dòng)這兩項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)與其他四項(xiàng)測試方式相比，對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)成績的提高有更重要的影響。在更深入的研究中，他將20位學(xué)生分隔成兩組，一組健康另一組非健康。對(duì)他們進(jìn)行了注意力、記憶力和工作速度的認(rèn)知實(shí)驗(yàn)，同時(shí)用腦電圖記錄了學(xué)生們大腦電流的活動(dòng)變化。
健康孩子的大腦腦前額皮層表現(xiàn)得更加活躍，該區(qū)域管控著腦部其他區(qū)域的活動(dòng)過程。
盡管如此，讓孩子們進(jìn)行快走鍛煉，他們的各科成績都一定會(huì)表現(xiàn)優(yōu)異嗎？也不完全是。
Ratey解釋說，運(yùn)動(dòng)本身并不能使你更加聰明，但它可以使學(xué)習(xí)者的大腦處于佳學(xué)習(xí)狀態(tài)?，F(xiàn)在還不能肯定，鍛煉就一定能夠提高學(xué)習(xí)成績，但肯定與之有關(guān)聯(lián)。
The end of 2008 brings some discouraging news about our kids' brains and brawn. Recent results from an international math and science test show United States students are performing near the middle of the pack compared to other countries, while their levels of obesity continue to climb.
Historically, these two trends were studied independently with plans of action developed for each. However, several researchers and a new book have been making the case for linking these two problems by showing the effects of aerobic exercise not only on a student's fitness level but also on their test scores.
Earlier this month, the latest (2007) TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and science Study) scores were released. They compare fourth grade students from 36 countries and eighth grade students from 48 countries. They were tested on subjects that were common to all of the countries, including algebra, geometry, chemistry and physics. Overall, 425,000 students participated in the test, which is administered every four years.
In math, American fourth graders came in at 11th place of the 36 countries while eighth graders scored ninth out of 48. Hong Kong and Taiwan ranked first for fourth grade and eighth grade, respectively. In science, Singapore topped the list for both fourth grade and eighth grade, with U.S. science students taking eighth place and 11th place.
While the American math scores have improved slightly, the science scores have dropped. In 2003, U.S. fourth graders were in sixth place in the world and eighth graders were in ninth place. Only 6 percent of U.S. eighth-grade students reached the TIMSS "advanced" level in math, compared to 45 percent of students in Chinese Taipei, 40 percent in Korea, 40 percent in Singapore, 31 percent in Hong Kong, 26 percent in Japan and 10 percent in Hungary.
Regarding student fitness, the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the percentage of overweight or obese 6- to 11-year-olds has tripled since 1980, with more than 125 million children at unhealthy levels.
Leaping backward
Ironically, one of the solutions proposed for raising test scores, the federal No Child Left Behind program, encourages schools to focus more of the school day on the core academic subjects while reducing class time in peripheral subjects, like art, music, and physical education. In fact, only 6 percent of American high schools offer a daily gym class. Yet a 2002 Virginia Tech study showed no relationship between reduced class time in those subjects and higher overall standardized tests.
In his latest book, "Spark: The Revolutionary New science of Exercise and the Brain" (2008, Little, Brown), John Ratey, a Harvard clinical associate professor of psychiatry, argues for more physical fitness for students as a cure for not only their obesity but also their academic performance.
"I cannot underestimate how important regular exercise is in improving the function and performance of the brain." Ratey writes. "Exercise stimulates our gray matter to produce Miracle-Gro for the brain." That "Miracle-Gro" is a brain chemical called brain-derived neurotropic factor, or BDNF. When we exercise, our working muscles send chemicals into our bloodstream, including a protein known as IGF-1.
Once in the brain, IGF-1 orders the production of more BDNF. The additional BDNF helps new neurons and their connections grow. In addition, levels of other neurotransmitters are increased after a strenuous exercise session.
"Dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine — all of these are elevated after exercise," says Ratey. "So having a workout will help focus, calming down, and impulsivity — it's like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin."
Evidence mounts
Research showing a link between fitness and academics is growing.
The California Department of Education (CDE) looked for a correlation between fitness scores and test scores. They found that kids who were deemed fit (by a standard test of aerobic capacity, BMI, abdominal strength, trunk strength, upper body strength and overall flexibility) scored twice as well on academic tests as those that were unfit. In the second year of the study, socio-economic status was taken into account, to possibly eliminate that variable as an explanation. As expected, those in the upper-income brackets scored better overall on the academic tests, but within the lower-income set of students, the same results were observed — kids who were more fit performed better academically.
Charles Hillman, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois, was able to duplicate these findings with 259 third and fifth-grade Illinois students. His team also noticed that two of the tests, BMI and aerobic capacity, were significantly more influential to higher academic scores than the other four fitness factors. Digging deeper, he isolated two groups of 20 students, one fit and the other unfit. They were given cognitive tests of attention, working memory and processing speed while their brain's electrical activity was being measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG) test.
The fit kids' brains showed more activity in the prefrontal cortex, known for its executive function and control over other brain processes.
So, just send the kids on a fast jog and they will ace all of their tests? Not quite.
“The exercise itself doesn't make you smarter, but it puts the brain of the learners in the optimal position for them to learn,” Ratey said. “There's no way to say for sure that improves learning capacity for kids, but it certainly seems to correlate to that."
2008年底，幾則關(guān)于美國青少年學(xué)習(xí)和健康的消息，有些不盡人意。國際數(shù)學(xué)和科學(xué)競賽的結(jié)果顯示，美國學(xué)生的表現(xiàn)，相對(duì)其他國家來說，勉強(qiáng)位列中游，但他們肥胖的程度卻在繼續(xù)加深。
之前，對(duì)上述兩個(gè)問題的研究都是單獨(dú)設(shè)計(jì)并獨(dú)立完成的。但現(xiàn)在已有研究人員在他們的新作中將這兩個(gè)問題聯(lián)系在一起，并闡述了有氧運(yùn)動(dòng)不僅對(duì)學(xué)生身體產(chǎn)生影響，對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)成績也同樣有效果。
本月初，國際數(shù)學(xué)與科學(xué)研究趨勢（TIMSS）雜志發(fā)表了新版（2007年）評(píng)價(jià)報(bào)告。他們對(duì)36個(gè)國家的四年級(jí)學(xué)生和48個(gè)國家的八年級(jí)學(xué)生進(jìn)行了比較。所有國家的學(xué)生被測試的學(xué)科都一樣，包括代數(shù)、幾何、化學(xué)和物理。共有425，000名學(xué)生參與了這項(xiàng)四年的測試。
數(shù)學(xué)方面，美國四年級(jí)的學(xué)生，在36個(gè)國家中位列第11位；八年級(jí)的學(xué)生，在48個(gè)國家中，則位列第九。香港和臺(tái)灣則分列這兩個(gè)級(jí)別首位；在科學(xué)方面，新加坡在四年級(jí)和八年級(jí)中均排名第一，而美國則分列第八和第十一位。
美國學(xué)生的數(shù)學(xué)成績盡管有所進(jìn)步，但科學(xué)成績卻下降了。2003年，美國四年級(jí)學(xué)生的成績排在第六位，而八年級(jí)排在第九位。按TIMSS的“優(yōu)秀”標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，美國八年級(jí)學(xué)生僅有6%能夠在數(shù)學(xué)上達(dá)到要求，而中國臺(tái)北學(xué)生的比例是45%，韓國48%，新加坡40%，香港31%，日本26%，匈牙利10%。
在學(xué)生的健康方面，來自疾病控制和預(yù)防中心的新數(shù)據(jù)顯示，自1980年以來，6-11歲超重或肥胖的比例已增長了3倍，有超過1250萬兒童處于非健康狀態(tài)。
大步后退
具有諷刺意味的是，為提高成績，相關(guān)部門提出了一個(gè)解決方案，暨“聯(lián)邦無人落后計(jì)劃”。該方案鼓勵(lì)學(xué)校將更多時(shí)間集中在主課上，同時(shí)減少類似藝術(shù)、音樂和體育等副科的上課時(shí)間。而現(xiàn)在的實(shí)際情況是，能夠安排每天體育課的美國高中也僅占6%。另外，2002年弗吉尼亞州的一項(xiàng)技術(shù)研究表明，副科上課時(shí)間的減少，與提高整體測試成績并沒有相關(guān)性。
哈佛大學(xué)精神病學(xué)臨床助理教授John Ratey，在其新作《火花：鍛煉與大腦的革命性新科學(xué)》中闡述說，學(xué)生更多地參加體育鍛煉可以治療肥胖同時(shí)提高學(xué)習(xí)成績。
John Ratey 寫道：“常規(guī)的體育鍛煉對(duì)大腦的功能和表現(xiàn)起到的重要性，是不能被低估的。鍛煉可以刺激我們大腦的灰質(zhì)部分，從而產(chǎn)生Miracle-Gro“?！癕iracle-Gro”是大腦中的一種化學(xué)物質(zhì)，名為腦導(dǎo)神經(jīng)營養(yǎng)因子,簡稱BDNF。當(dāng)我們進(jìn)行鍛煉時(shí)，活動(dòng)中的肌肉組織將包括一種名為“IGF-1的化學(xué)物質(zhì)送入我們的血液中，。
一旦進(jìn)入大腦，IGF-1便會(huì)發(fā)出指令產(chǎn)生更多的BDNF。而BDNF可幫助新的神經(jīng)元生長和連接。另外，經(jīng)過高強(qiáng)度的鍛煉，神經(jīng)傳導(dǎo)素的水平也得到了提高。
Ratey說:”鍛煉后，多巴胺、血清素和降腎上腺素都得到了提高。因此，體育鍛煉能夠有助于提高注意力、穩(wěn)定情緒和減少?zèng)_動(dòng)，就像服用了一點(diǎn)百憂界和利它林。
更多的證據(jù)
有關(guān)健康與學(xué)習(xí)成績的關(guān)系的相關(guān)研究越來越多。
加利福尼亞教育部(CDE)調(diào)查了健康水平和測試分?jǐn)?shù)的相關(guān)性。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，經(jīng)過一套標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化測試后，（該測試內(nèi)容包括有氧能力測試、BMI、腹部力量、下肢力量、上身力量以及整體柔韌性等），被認(rèn)定為健康的孩子與那些不健康的孩子相比，學(xué)習(xí)成績高出兩倍。在第二年的研究中，為了減少社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)因素對(duì)研究的影響，也將這個(gè)因素考慮進(jìn)去，正如預(yù)期一樣，在學(xué)習(xí)成績上，高收入的人群的分?jǐn)?shù)整體上會(huì)更高；但在低收入學(xué)生中，也觀察到了同樣的結(jié)果，既身體越健康成績會(huì)越好。
伊力諾依大學(xué)運(yùn)動(dòng)機(jī)能學(xué)副教授Charles Hillman對(duì)該州259名3、4年級(jí)的學(xué)生進(jìn)行的調(diào)查中，也印證了上述結(jié)果。他帶領(lǐng)的團(tuán)隊(duì)同樣注意到，BMI和有氧運(yùn)動(dòng)這兩項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)與其他四項(xiàng)測試方式相比，對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)成績的提高有更重要的影響。在更深入的研究中，他將20位學(xué)生分隔成兩組，一組健康另一組非健康。對(duì)他們進(jìn)行了注意力、記憶力和工作速度的認(rèn)知實(shí)驗(yàn)，同時(shí)用腦電圖記錄了學(xué)生們大腦電流的活動(dòng)變化。
健康孩子的大腦腦前額皮層表現(xiàn)得更加活躍，該區(qū)域管控著腦部其他區(qū)域的活動(dòng)過程。
盡管如此，讓孩子們進(jìn)行快走鍛煉，他們的各科成績都一定會(huì)表現(xiàn)優(yōu)異嗎？也不完全是。
Ratey解釋說，運(yùn)動(dòng)本身并不能使你更加聰明，但它可以使學(xué)習(xí)者的大腦處于佳學(xué)習(xí)狀態(tài)?，F(xiàn)在還不能肯定，鍛煉就一定能夠提高學(xué)習(xí)成績，但肯定與之有關(guān)聯(lián)。