Although the benefits of physical activity for children are well-documented, concerns persist among parents and school administrators that more time devoted to physical activities could reduce study time and hinder academic performance. To address these concerns, Wang and colleagues conducted a cluster randomized clinical trial exploring the impact of extracurricular after-school physical activities on math performance, physical fitness, and myopia status among 3rd and 4th graders in Jiangxi, China.
The study involved 24 elementary schools, stratified into six strata, based on location and prior math scores. Schools within each stratum were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. The intervention group (12 schools, n = 1012) participated in a 2-hour extracurricular physical activity program after school on school days, engaging in activities such as basketball, soccer, badminton, and table tennis. The control group (12 schools, n = 1020) had no structured after-school physical activity program and students managed their own after-school time.
Data collected before the intervention (October 2020) and after (June 2021) included math test scores, physical fitness scores, myopia status, and self-reported behavior-related data. The findings revealed:
- Math performance in the intervention group was not inferior to the control group.
- Students in the intervention group showed significantly greater improvements in overall physical fitness and a lower incidence of new myopia cases, although the latter was not statistically significant.
- There was a lower proportion of students in the intervention group who spent more than 30 minutes per day on screen time.
- The time spent on studying and reading was similar between both groups.
These results suggest that participating in after-school extracurricular physical activities for one academic year not only enhances physical fitness but also does not negatively impact math performance. Furthermore, it may offer additional benefits such as reducing excessive screen time.
Source: Wang, D., Xiong, R., Zhang, J., Han, X., Jin, L., Liu, W., Qu, Y., Chen, Q., Chen, S., Chen, X., Li, Y., He, M., Zeng, Y., & Liu, Y. (2023). Effect of extracurricular after-school physical activities on academic performance of schoolchildren: A cluster randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics, 177(11), 1141–1148. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3615