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American Academy Of Pediatrics Recommends Pediatricians Screen Kids For Physical Activity

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American Academy Of Pediatrics Recommends Pediatricians Screen Kids For Physical Activity

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News Article
Marshall, M. (2020, February 24). AAP Recommends Pediatricians Screen Kids For Physical Activity. Retrieved from https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/02/24/american-academy-pediatrics-recommends-pediatricians-screen-kids-physical-activity-healthwatch-dr-mallika-marshall/

In this article from CBS 4 in Boston on physical activity among kids states that pediatricians are now recommending that children are screened for the amount of physical activity that is recommended for their age groups. Kids and teens should be getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day.  This is especially important for students in low-income families, minorities, and kids in urban areas. Pediatricians are focused on working with families to create realistic physical fitness goals for their children, and are even writing prescriptions for physical activities.

This is a very important topic for our youth today. As technology grows, and children spend more time inside, it is more important than ever that children get physical exercise.

Teachers in the classroom can promote physical exercise by in cooperating group games into their lessons, taking their students outside for brain breaks, and promoting extra recess to get their students moving.

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BOSTON (CBS) - Regular physical activity promotes good physical and mental health, but only about a quarter of American kids get the recommended amount. The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued recommendations to pediatricians on how to get kids moving.

Kids and teens should get at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day, but most are falling short, especially minority children, kids in rural and urban areas, teenage girls, and children with special needs.

So the group is asking pediatricians to screen children for levels of physical activity at every visit, to work with caregivers to set realistic strategies for greater physical activity for the whole family, and to write physical prescriptions for exercise.

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American Academy Of Pediatrics Recommends Pediatricians Screen Kids For Physical Activity

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BOSTON (CBS) - Regular physical activity promotes good physical and mental health, but only about a quarter of American kids get the recommended amount. The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued recommendations to pediatricians on how to get kids moving.

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from a  research case conducted at Drexel University about the connection between people partaking in exercise and also eating less. From this research, the reader will now know how engaging in fitness will actually also help them from intaking too much food. According to the article, those who do not exercise are 12% more likely to eat too many calories in their day as opposed to those who did exercise with only 5% tending to eat too much. It is stressed how important 60 minutes of exercise daily is to health. To go along with this reading in the Pk-4th grade classroom, teachers can find 30 minutes of daily exercise to provide students with whether it is all at once of for 5 minute intervals throughout the school day. For the other 30 minutes, teachers can give students guides about how they can continue their exercise at home.

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This article discusses a teacher who includes physical activity in almost all of her lesson plans. Her students’ scores have improved and get their “wiggles” out. She incorporates large movements like jumping jacks and small ones like hand motions. This teacher has "seamless transitions" to where students have no idea that they're actually engaging in physical activity, just better able to pay attention and more engaged.

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Andrea Goff's first grade classroom at Ruffner Elementary School is not what you would expect. Instead of desks lined neatly in rows, kids sit at round tables, and some children sit on small exercise ball chairs. Instead of sitting quietly and working on worksheets, kids are playing games and shouting and moving around. But Joshua Grant, Physical Education Coordinator at the West Virginia Department of Education, said that Andrea Goff is one of the best teachers at adding physical activity to the classroom, and in fact, she teaches other teachers across the state to do what she does.

"Andrea just constantly integrates physical activity throughout the day. It's seamless, her transitions are minimal, and the kids are just excited to learn," said Grant.

Almost everything Goff's students do in the classroom has movement attached to it. As they work on addition problems, she gives them hand motions and chants to learn how to put together a simple equation. Sometimes, she'll add in accents or tell them to do ten jumping jacks to learn how to count to ten. The movement, she says, helps her students memorize things.

"My math scores have improved since my first year of teaching through the roof," said Goff, "They're so focused on the movements that they're not even realizing that they're learning."

Ruffner Elementary School adds a few different ways for students to "get the wiggles out." They have a separate room called the Focus Room where students can go and exercise when a student feels distracted and needs a "brain break."

"Walk into any classroom and I don't expect to see rows of kids sitting the proper way," said Henry Nearman, Principal at Ruffner Elementary, "How many of us are sitting back straight with a book in front of us? Most of the time, we're laying on the couch or in a comfortable chair. Why not do that for our students?"

It's not just Ruffner Elementary that is trying out these new techniques. It's part of a new initiative happening across the country where teachers are incorporating physical activity in their lessons, and the West Virginia Department of Education is encouraging teachers to give it a try.

West Virginia has the second-highest rate of childhood obesity in the nation, and adding more exercise to the school day could help lower that rate. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that kids get at least an hour of exercise every day, but nearly 75% of kids don't. Researchers at the CDC say that adding physical activity to the classroom can help close the gap for kids who aren't getting enough exercise.

"Some of the things that they're facing today are things that are really this generation challenges, which the biggest thing is the digital age and electronics," said Sarah Lee, Lead Health Scientist at the CDC, "That is their norm that they live with and so that becomes more attractive than being physically active for example."

The West Virginia Prevention Research Center decided to do their own study on children's physical activity with a grant from the CDC. The project, called Activate!, used FitBits to track how increasing physical activity can affect test scores. Researchers split 33 schools into three groups randomly-one to study physical activity in the classroom, one for activity outside of school, and a control group. Preliminary results have been positive so far.

In the school intervention group, teachers were trained to add physical activity to the classroom using a tool kit developed by the researchers. The tool kit was designed to be inexpensive to accommodate for schools with tight budgets, and included simple items like Chinese jump ropes. With this, teachers were able to nearly double the time kids spent being physically active at school.

"One thing we wanted to focus on was making physical activity enjoyable, because at this early age, you don't want them to think of it as a chore or that it's exercise or something I don't want to do," said Nancy O'Hara Tompkins, Co-Investigator at the West Virginia Prevention Research Center.

One challenge teachers and schools might face in adding physical activity is that it would cut down on academic time, but Lee said that a majority of the studies on adding that extra time for physical activity show that students perform better despite the decrease in lecture time.

"We have not found studies that show that it negatively affects academic success," said Lee.

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west virginia prevention research center

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How adding jumping jacks can improve lesson plans - Studies show physical activity helps kids learn

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Andrea Goff's first grade classroom at Ruffner Elementary School is not what you would expect. Instead of desks lined neatly in rows, kids sit at round tables, and some children sit on small exercise ball chairs. Instead of sitting quietly and working on worksheets, kids are playing games and shouting and moving [...]

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IOS Press. (2020, January 30). High and low exercise intensity found to influence brain function differently: Study suggests that exercise could play a role as a therapeutic strategy in neurological and psychiatric disorders. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200130115430.htm 

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IOS Press. (2020, January 30). High and low exercise intensity found to influence brain function differently: Study suggests that exercise could play a role as a therapeutic strategy in neurological and psychiatric disorders. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200130115430.htm 

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This article, found on ScienceDaily, is about a recent study on the brain and physical activity. The study focused on how low and high exercise intensity influences brain functioning. The article states that this is the first study of it's kind. Using a noninvasive technique to capture images and functioning of the brain, researchers searched for changes in positive and negative attitudes after each of the 25 male participants completed a workout. After gathering the results and evidence, the researchers concluded that low-intensity exercise lead to increased functional connectivity networks associated with processing and attention. High-intensity exercise showed increased connectivity networks associated with emotional processing and motor function. Overall, this article and research further support the benefits of movement and exercise. Children need many opportunities for movement throughout the day. Physical activity helps children not only foster healthy habits but focus better and ultimately learn more. I will be mindful of this and strive to incorporate movement activities during lessons and brain breaks.

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A new study shows for the first time that low and high exercise intensities differentially influence brain function. Using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI), a noninvasive technique that allows for studies on brain connectivity, researchers discovered that low-intensity exercise triggers brain networks involved in cognition control and attention processing, while high-intensity exercise primarily activates networks involved in affective/emotion processing. The results appear in a special issue of Brain Plasticity devoted to Exercise and Cognition.

"We believe that functional neuroimaging will have a major impact for unraveling body-brain interactions," said lead investigators Angelika Schmitt, MSc, and Henning Boecker, MD, Functional Neuroimaging Group, Department of Radiology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany. "These novel methods allow us to 'look' directly into the brains of a group of athletes, and, maybe even more importantly, understand the dynamic changes in brain structure and function associated with the transition from a sedentary to a healthy lifestyle.

Twenty-five male athletes underwent individual assessments using an incremental treadmill test. On separate days they performed low- and high-intensity exercise bouts for 30 minutes. Before and after exercising, Rs-fMRI was used to examine functional connectivity of different brain regions that are linked to specific behavioral processes. Participants also completed a questionnaire to measure positive and negative mood before and after the exercise.

The behavioral data showed a significant increase in positive mood after both exercise intensities and no significant change in negative mood. The results of the Rs-fMRI tests showed that low-intensity exercise led to increased functional connectivity in networks associated with cognitive processing and attention. High-intensity exercise, on the other hand, led to increased functional connectivity in networks related to affective, emotional processes. High-intensity exercise also led to a decreased functional connectivity in networks associated with motor function.

The investigators note that this is the first study to report distinct effects of exercise intensity on specific functional networks within the brain at rest. Future research in this area will help provide neurobiological evidence about what type of exercise intensity is best suited for certain neurological or behavioral modulations and may pave the way for supportive clinical applications in patients or for enhancing brain functional plasticity.
Story Source:
Materials provided by IOS Press. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Angelika Schmitt, Neeraj Upadhyay, Jason Anthony Martin, Sandra Rojas, Heiko Klaus Strüder, Henning Boecker. Modulation of Distinct Intrinsic Resting State Brain Networks by Acute Exercise Bouts of Differing Intensity. Brain Plasticity, 2019; 5 (1): 39 DOI: 10.3233/BPL-190081

Cite This Page:

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fitness; brain tumor; staying healthy; medical devices; intelligence; psychology; brain-computer interfaces; brain injury

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High and low exercise intensity found to influence brain function differently: Study suggests that exercise could play a role as a therapeutic strategy in neurological and psychiatric disorders

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A new study shows for the first time that low and high exercise intensities differentially influence brain function. Using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI), a noninvasive technique that allows for studies on brain connectivity, researchers discovered that low-intensity exercise triggers brain networks involved in cognition control and attention processing, while high-intensity exercise primarily activates networks involved in affective/emotion processing.

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Gray, D. (2020, February 23). Why Pediatricians Are Being Urged to Write ‘Physical

Activity Prescriptions’ for Children. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/pediatricians-hand-out-physical-activity-prescriptions-to-children

This article on physical activity from Healthline details how pediatricians are being urged to start writing “exercise prescriptions” for the children they see in their office.  The recommendation, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) titled Physical Activity Assessment and Counseling in Pediatric Clinical Settings, encourages pediatricians to go beyond simply recommending that kids get exercise and take the step of actually issuing a prescription for physical activity. Only 1 in 4 children reports getting the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that only slightly more than a quarter of teens in the United States are getting the recommended amount of activity per day. With technology on the rise, more students are spending time in front of a screen instead of being active or outdoors. Physical activity in the school day has been compromised by a push toward more ‘academic’ subjects. The importance of this clinical report is giving the pediatrician the tools to dive deeper, to offer more specific recommendations in terms of how much moderate to vigorous physical activity a child should achieve. The topic of physical activity is important for teachers because physical activity in the school day improves concentration and attention, improves academic performance, improves behavior, and helps children and adolescents adopt habits for lifelong health. Getting students to be active helps them to learn and stay healthy.

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Located on Today, this article stresses the importance of physical activity. This article really stresses how every minute of physical activity counts. A new study suggests that each person should be getting 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each week and EVERY minute counts. The article suggests different activities with different intensity levels. These include walking the dog, climbing a flight of stairs, or race-walking. The article basically stresses the value of each and every minute of physical activity. Even parking farther away from the grocery store to get some extra steps in is beneficial to one’s health. All of the little things add up. This is useful for teachers to know when considering whether or not to incorporate locomotor movement into lesson plans.

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A new study suggests something encouraging for busy people: Every minute of movement counts toward the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity we're all supposed to be getting each week. University of Utah researchers found that each minute spent engaging in some kind of moderate to vigorous physical activity was associated with lower BMI and lower weight.

OK, that seems kind of obvious. But according to the current physical activity national guidelines, "aerobic activity should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes," and the everyday stuff, like walking the dog or climbing a flight of stairs, "aren't long enough to count toward meeting the Guidelines." This new paper, published today in the American Journal of Health Promotion, suggests that reaching those two and a half hours minute by minute is just fine.

"The idea here is, you can do a minute at a time and that's not a problem," says Jessie Fan, lead author of the new paper and a family and consumer studies professor at the University of Utah.

For the women studied, each minute spent in higher-intensity, moderate to vigorous activity was associated with a .07 drop in body mass index, a measure of fat based on height and weight. For a 5'4" woman, that means a drop in weight of nearly half a pound. The effect in the guys was a little less substantial: a minute of exercise was associated with a .04 drop in BMI, translating to a .27-pound drop in weight for a 5'8" guy. That doesn't sound like much, and it isn't on its own - but that's just one minute, points out Miriam Nelson, a nutrition science professor at Tufts University who was on the committee that put together the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Multiply that by 10, or 30, or 150, and you've got some real results - all achieved by teeny tiny bouts of high-intensity activity.

"High intensity," Fan says, essentially means moving with a little pep, enough to get your heart rate going: it's not sprinting or racewalking, for example, but it's not ambling down the sidewalk, either.

"I think it's easier for people to process that message," Fan says. "Otherwise, if they don't have a block of time they might be discouraged, and they don't do anything."

Fan and colleagues gathered their data using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a research program that uses interviews and physical exams to track the health of a diverse selection of American adults and children. For this study, researchers gathered the BMI and weight of 4,511 adults ages 18 to 64, and compared that to their physical activity level, which was tracked by an accelerometer, a device that measures movement.

The results, experts say, lend some numerical evidence to the idea that "every minute counts."

"Time is precious," says Michael Mantell, Ph.D., a behavioral science expert with the American Council on Exercise. He says the "all or nothing" approach - as in, "If I can't work out for an hour at the gym, why bother at all?" - is an excuse that too often keeps people from doing any sort of physical activity. "This study identifies why that belief is inaccurate."

Mantell has, oh, about a thousand ideas to put this idea into practice: You could energetically clean the house while listening to peppy music, or go outside to wash and wax your car. In the kitchen, you could chop veggies, wash dishes or stir batter by hand instead of with an electric mixer. On your way to work or while doing errands, get off the bus or subway a stop earlier than normal, or park a little farther away from the store. At home, play with your kids or grandkids, push the baby in the stroller, or walk the dog.

"The major message," Mantell says, "is to take a minute for yourself."

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Every minute of physical activity really does count, new study shows

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A new study suggests something encouraging for busy people: Every minute of movement counts toward the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity we're all supposed to be getting each week.

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Rowan Cheshire: GB freestyle skier retires at 24 citing injury and concussion effects. (2020, February 20). BBC Sport. Retrieved from                 https://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-sports/51572465

Rowan Cheshire, an article by BBC Sport, was left with no choice but to retire at 24 after many injuries, saying her body just couldn’t keep up anymore. After a horrific crash prior to the 2014 winter Olympics she suffered a severe concussion and broken nose. She did go on to compete in the 2018 winter Olympics, but she is now calling it quits. Citing her mental health as well as physical. Reading this article to a class of elementary students would be very eye opening to me. Promoting physical well-being and mental health. This article to lead to activities relating to using the correct form, and equipment when playing sports. This article would be something students would probably be interested in reading as well.

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British Olympic freestyle skier Rowan Cheshire has announced her retirement at 24, saying her "body and mind just can't keep up with the pace".

A horrific crash before the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics left Cheshire with a broken nose and severe concussion, and unable to compete at the Games.

She finished seventh in the halfpipe at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.

"I feel so privileged to have spent the last nine years pursuing the crazy sport that I love," she said.

"But my body and mind just can't keep up with the pace of it any more and I have enjoyed exploring different avenues this year during my rehabilitation."

In 2014, Cheshire became the first British skier to win a Freestyle Skiing World Cup halfpipe title, a year after she won her first medal when she took bronze at the World Junior Championships.

Since the 2018 Olympics, Cheshire has spoken openly about the effects her concussion had on her mental health and her love for competitive extreme sport.

"The synergy between your body and mind, particularly when competing in professional sport, has to be seamless," said Cheshire.

"For me, that has been the most interesting part of this decision - my body might be fit enough now, but is my mind up to the task?"

She added: "Being a part of Team GB at the Winter Olympics was a dream come true and I'm so grateful I was given the opportunity to compete.

"I hope in the future I can inspire people to take up sport, achieve their goals, find their passion and recognise the positive impact physical activity can have on mental health."

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Rowan Cheshire: GB freestyle skier retires at 24 citing injury and concussion effects

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British Olympic freestyle skier Rowan Cheshire has announced her retirement at 24, saying her "body and mind just can't keep up with the pace". A horrific crash before the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics left Cheshire with a broken nose and severe concussion, and unable to compete at the Games.

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Exercise Advice on Food Labels Could Help Reduce Obesity

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Exercise Advice on Food Labels Could Help Reduce Obesity

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This article on exercise from CNN describes a new way to figure out how much exercise is needed to burn off a product's calories. According to researchers, placing PACE labels on food can help reduce obesity. PACE stands for physical activity calorie equivalent. The label is actually quite simple - it tells consumers different ways they could burn the calories they have just eaten. This article on exercise is a great way to remember and include physical activity into the classroom. For instance, when snack time is over, students can do the exercise it says on their snack package.

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This article about physical activity from U.S. News provides a list of tips and tools to use while encouraging physical activity in children as parents, educators, etc. Throughout the lists of tips the author also links other articles/resources to reference as examples that can be of use when being an physical activity influence on children. In a PK-4 classroom this can be used when planning lesson or daily routines that will give children ample opportunities to be active and how the teacher can be in support when these activities do happen.

Mandelbaum, B. (2018, October 1).

Encouraging Physical Activity in Children. US News. Retrieved from https://health.usnews.com/health-care/for-better/articles/2018-10-01/encouraging-physical-activity-in-children

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For most parents, the ultimate goal is to raise healthy, smart, successful and happy children. Anyone who has kids can attest to the fact that it's a wild ride, with some twists and turns that aren't always visible up ahead. There's no manual, no green light that will spin and flash when you make the right call - and parenting, in general, requires a lot of gut-checks and crossed-fingers as you navigate through the childrearing years. As if the task at hand wasn't tough enough already, these days we're also taking on the rising challenge of childhood obesity , hich sadly has come to affect 1 in every 5 school-age children. It wasn't always this big a problem in America. In fact, the percentage of children and adolescents affected by obesity has nearly tripled since the 1970s. We can thank the booming convenience-food culture and the rise of technology for contributing to a sedentary lifestyle and an imbalance in energy.

Though it's a fact that genetics can play a role in body weight and proportion, as well as metabolism - which is naturally slower in some children - there are two significant and modifiable obesity risk factors that parents can influence in their children: diet and physical activity. These are two things we have total control over.

Our children look to us as examples for how to live, and they develop their lifelong habits by modeling our behaviors, so it's crucial to teach them the importance of a healthy diet and regular physical activity from a young age. Doing so will contribute to a healthy weight, strong muscles and bones, decreased risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, better sleep and an overall happier and more confident mindset about life. Here's an added bonus: Kids who are physically active are also more likely to be motivated and focused in school.

1. Keep play lighthearted for littles. When young children are playing in an organized sport or activity, try not to get too wrapped up in the details or "rules" of the sport. Letting kids "play as they go" is often more enjoyable for them than having to abide by strict rules, and sometimes dictating instructions is a surefire way to make a kid want to quit. Kids, especially the youngest among us, simply don't want to do things that aren't fun. After all, the primary definition of the word play, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is: "engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose." Let them choose the activities they like to engage in. Over time (even if they aren't following the rules), their skillsets will improve, and that's an instant confidence booster for kids to continue in any given sport or activity and try new ones. As long as they are running, jumping and moving around, they're getting the healthy exercise benefits they genuinely need, so allow them to have some fun at play without too many parameters (except those that are designed for their safety and the safety of other children around them).

2. Choose activities that are age and skill-level appropriate. The key to keeping your kids (and their friends) engaged in exercise is to allow them to select the activity that best suits them. If an activity is too "old" or too "young" for your child, they may get bored and lose interest, or get frustrated if they find themselves unable to do it as well as they want. For parents, the challenge is to help their kids find physical activities they enjoy and feel successful doing. When you see the match with an activity that's right for your child, interest and commitment often follow. Unsure of the choices out there? Preschoolers benefit most from play and exercise that helps them build fundamental gross-motor skills - like kicking a ball, hopping on one foot or riding a bike with training wheels. School-age kids can start getting into traditional sports like soccer and baseball, karate or biking, for example. By the teenage years, your child will most likely have a good idea of what sport he or she is into and can join a school sports team or even get a membership to a local gym.

3. Make fitness a family affair. This means just that: Join in on exercise time with your children. Instead of going to the movies for your next family outing, opt for a hike or a bike ride instead. Plan a set time to be active as a family, like a walk around the neighborhood after dinner or a tennis match every Saturday morning, so it just becomes part of life's routine and feels less like "exercise" and more like family fun.

4. Monitor and moderate the screen time. If kids aren't sitting in front of the TV, tablet or smartphone, they have no other choice than to go do something. With no limits on screen time, most kids will choose just to lay back, relax and binge-watch their favorite shows or play video games all day. These activities can quickly become the habits you don't want to establish in your family and are much harder to break once they set in. Setting time limits on technology every day forces everyone in the family to choose something else to do - and may even land them outside doing something active or inside doing something creative and imaginative. And sorry parents, it can be near impossible to remove your child from the TV while you're still watching it, so turning it off entirely or putting the tablets and smartphones away while you're with your kids is an example that starts with you!

5. Be their biggest cheerleader. Encourage your children to participate in sports, join a team or even practice another activity at home. Often, positive encouragement from parents is the confidence boost kids need to sign up or start something new. As their skills improve, let them know that you notice, and compliment them on their progress. And if your child wants to try something he or she has never tried before, champion the effort. Trying new things isn't easy, and commending kids who want to do things that aren't easy is essential. Never underestimate the power of some extra motivation.

Whatever their age or fitness level, every child can be physically fit. Keep a positive attitude and support your kids' interest to manifest activity and exercise as a healthy (and fun) part of everyday life.

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Encouraging Physical Activity in Children

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For most parents, the ultimate goal is to raise healthy, smart, successful and happy children. Anyone who has kids can attest to the fact that it's a wild ride, with some twists and turns that aren't always visible up ahead.

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Physical Activity in Lessons Improves Students’ Attainment

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Physical Activity in Lessons Improves Students’ Attainment

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This article talks about how doing simple physical activity throughout the day can improve students’ academic performance. In this article a study was conducted around the world at different schools that wanted to increase activity levels in their students. This study says that just adding simple physical activity increased student’s performance. Just doing simple things like jumping in your spot to do a math problem for example, if the math problem was five plus five you would have the students jump in place ten times. This article is useful for teachers because it is just another advantage of physical activity for students. Schools are always looking for new ways to add physical activity and adding them into a lesson plan is a great idea.

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Students who take part in physical exercises like star jumps or running on the spot during school lessons do better in tests than peers who stick to sedentary learning, according to a UCL-led study.

The meta-analysis of 42 studies around the world, published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to assess the benefits of incorporating physical activity in academic lessons. This approach has been adopted by schools seeking to increase activity levels among students without reducing academic teaching time.

Typical activities include using movement to signify whether a fact is true or false, or jumping on the spot a certain number of times to answer a maths question.

The study concluded that incorporating physical activity had a large, significant effect on educational outcomes during the lesson, assessed through tests or by observing pupils' attention to a given task, and a smaller effect on overall educational outcomes, as well as increasing the students' overall levels of physical activity.

Lead author Dr Emma Norris (UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "Physical activity is good for children's health, and the biggest contributor of sedentary time in children's lives is the seven or eight hours a day they spend in classrooms.

"Our study shows that physically active lessons are a useful addition to the curriculum. They can create a memorable learning experience, helping children to learn more effectively."

Co-author Dr Tommy van Steen (Leiden University, The Netherlands), added: "These improvements in physical activity levels and educational outcomes are the result of quite basic physical exercises. Teachers can easily incorporate these physical active lessons in the existing curriculum to improve the learning experience of students."

Researchers looked at data from 12,663 students aged between three and 14. Nearly half of the studies took place in the United States, with seven conducted in Australia, five in the UK, four in the Netherlands and one in China, Croatia, Ireland, Israel, Portugal and Sweden.

In one of the 42 studies analysed, eight- and nine-year-olds simulated travelling the world by running on the spot in between answering questions relating to different countries. The research team, also led by Dr Norris at UCL, concluded that the children were more active and more focused on the task than peers in a control group, following teachers' instructions more closely.

In another study in the Netherlands, primary school children who took part in physically active lessons three times a week over two years made significantly better progress in spelling and mathematics than their peers -- equating to four months of extra learning gains.

The study was conducted by researchers at UCL, Leiden University, the National University of Singapore, and the University of Sydney.

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educational psychology; k-12 education; numeracy; learning disorders; child development; child psychology; literacy; intelligence

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Physical activity in lessons improves students' attainment

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Students who take part in physical exercises like star jumps or running on the spot during school lessons do better in tests than peers who stick to sedentary learning, according to a UCL-led study. The meta-analysis of 42 studies around the world, published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to assess the benefits of incorporating physical activity in academic lessons.

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This article is about how important physical activity/exercise is. Not only does exercise make you physically healthier, but it actually changes your brain. It explains how exercise is good for us, its strengths our hearts and lungs and helps prevent diseases like diabetes. Besides for these benefits, there are way more. And they are mental exercise can help us find hope, connection and courage. In the PK-4th Grade classroom teachers can explain all the benefits of exercise and how it keeps our bodies healthy, but also keeps our brain “healthy.” This is important because this article relates to physical and mental health which are so important to children.

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The article on physical health from CNN Health focuses on the question surrounding living longer and exercise. This article examines the multiple studies and research behind the idea that exercise makes you live longer and confirms that if an individual engages in the highest level of physical activity during their life, they live an average of 5.5 years longer than other sedentary individuals. This article reminds people that the CDC recommends a minimum 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minute of vigorous exercise a week to stay healthy. It also talks about how people do not need to do vigorous exercise every day in order to live a healthier and longer life, but that individuals should do at least the minimum. This article is important for Pre-K-4 teachers who need to help their students get active. Children should participate in exercises and activities at school, as well as learn about what they can do on their own to stay active.

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when it comes to living longer through exercise

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When it comes to living longer through exercise, is more better?

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When it comes to light to moderate physical activity, those who engaged in the highest levels lived on average 5.5 years longer than their sedentary counterparts, according to a new paper.

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This article on physical activity from The Washington Post describes the increase of children learning yoga and the many benefits it has for the children. Yoga is being done in schools much more now, and some of the benefits include: “improved balance, strength, cardiovascular health, decreased anxiety, boosted memory, and better academic performance” (Randall, 2020). Yoga teaches children how to self-regulate their emotions and control their body when they have an abundance of emotions. Studies have shown consistent yoga in children have decreased stress and negative emotions, but similar to physical activity, mindfulness needs to consistently worked on to continue it’s benefits. Teachers can successfully use yoga within their classroom of all ages to help children in a variety of ways. Yoga can be used as a warm up, morning routine, brain break, calming down system, or daily routine! This allows students to engage in a physical activity while also self-regulating.

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Sonia Quinones, 5, watches others rs work on yoga poses at Cherry Run Elementary School in Burke, Va., last month. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

As I stepped on the sharp edge of a Lego buried in our carpet, my temper snapped. "That's it! I've asked you five times to brush your teeth and put away these toys. It's way past bedtime!"

My 5-year-old son looked up at me over the elaborate helicopter he was building. "Mom, maybe you should take a belly breath."

My scowl turned into a smile. I'd started teaching him a few yoga poses and breathing exercises at home, like how to dive into dolphin pose to get out the wiggles or explode with a " volcano breath " when his little sister made him mad.

And now here he was, teaching the teacher. I took his good advice and felt more levelheaded after a deep breath.

Although I've practiced and taught yoga for two decades, I've only recently realized its value for kids. And I'm not the only one: From toddlers to teens, yoga for children is more accessible than ever before. Defined as the union of mind and body, yoga includes everything from simple deep breaths to mellow seated stretches to complex strength-building poses.

According to an article published on the Harvard Health Blog, 3 percent of all children in the United States are practicing yoga - many of them in schools.

Physical benefits of yoga include improved flexibility, balance, strength and cardiovascular health. Research also shows mental and emotional benefits to youth from ages 5 to 18, including decreased anxiety, boosted concentration and memory, improved confidence and self-esteem, and better academic performance.

The goal of yoga is to generate self-awareness, which teaches kids to recognize their emotions. While it doesn't erase feelings, yoga can give them a way to process frustration, anger or sorrow in a healthy way. This in turn helps kids learn to act thoughtfully rather than react impulsively.

Kids who practice yoga can learn to tune into their body's sensations - like butterflies in the stomach, clenched fists or sweaty palms - and then use breath and movement to address uncomfortable feelings before they get out of control.

In recent study from MIT on the effects of an eight-week mindfulness program (comprising breathing exercises), sixth-graders reported feeling less stress and fewer negative emotions after the program. Brain scans revealed reduced activation of their amygdala, the region in the brain that processes fear.

"These results show that yoga's benefits extend beyond the meditative state - it can change how the brain responds to everyday stressors," said John Gabrieli of MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research.

But the positive results tend to fade once the mindfulness practice stops, Gabrieli said. "Like with healthy eating or physical exercise, a consistent daily experience is important."

One way to ensure that the benefits of yoga extend beyond school-based or extracurricular programs is to encourage kids to practice at home, too.

"Yoga can help kids regulate their own energy, which is a universal goal for parents," said Ann Huber, program director of YogaKids, a teaching certification program.

Huber said that yoga for kids usually includes songs, stories or games. "Teaching grown-up yoga to kids doesn't work. It's best to keep it simple, short and fun."

One way to do that is by watching an online video together, such as one of the Cosmic Kids yoga stories - books are also available. Co-founder Jaime Amor said that her "yoga adventures" are perfect for parents who aren't comfortable with initiating yoga themselves. Since so many schools offer yoga programs, kids may be the ones introducing their parents to yoga instead of vice versa.

"Let the kids lead you," Amor said. "Often they are better than adults at doing the movements, which is a great way to build their confidence."

Erin Hurley is a registered children's yoga teacher and an elementary school counselor in Virginia who has helped bring yoga programs into schools. She trained staff at Cherry Run Elementary School in Fairfax County, later expanding to three other elementary and middle schools. She started leading workshops for parents because many of them asked how to integrate yoga at home.

Hurley gives parents tips for helping kids get to sleep (place a stuffed animal on their belly as a "breathing buddy" and rock it to sleep with deep breaths), as well as tools for helping children address conflicts with siblings (first use "flying bird breaths" to calm down by inhaling arms overhead, then exhaling arms back down).

Hurley is appearing at the National Kids Yoga Conference this spring in Alexandria, Va., hosted by the nonprofit group YoKid. The goal of the conference is to empower and inspire more caregivers from around the country to teach kids yoga.

"Paying attention to what's happening inside of yourself makes everything easier, for kids and adults," said Liz Bolton, YoKid board member and owner of the Birth Club yoga studio in Alexandria.

Bolton said she's adding a kids yoga class at her studio - partly so she can bring her toddler to the class.

At home, Bolton encourages her son to join her whenever she gets out her mat, and said she uses yoga to help when he's "overwhelmed by big feelings."

For other parents interested in practicing yoga with their children, Bolton says to start simply: "Take a few deep breaths together or dance around to your favorite song - any mindful movement is yoga, as long as you do it with intention."

Giselle Shardlow, founder of Kids Yoga Stories, recommends that families start by spending five minutes per day on a routine that makes yoga meaningful and relevant to your children. "Does your toddler like dinosaurs? Move and breathe like them. Does your teenager like to exercise? Take a walk outside together."

Shardlow believes that bringing yoga into the home allows a more "intimate experience" than kids might find in a studio or at school, one that can change and grow as the child matures.

"Yoga helps us live life to the fullest potential by anchoring us in ourselves," Shardlow said. "It's a lifelong journey you can take together as a family."

Physical activity may help kids do better in school, studies say

Natural light reduces risk of nearsightedness in kids, scientists say

Mobile playground brings exercise to kids who aren't getting it

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Why more kids are learning - and enjoying - yoga

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As I stepped on the sharp edge of a Lego buried in our carpet, my temper snapped. "That's it! I've asked you five times to brush your teeth and put away these toys. It's way past bedtime!" My 5-year-old son looked up at me over the elaborate helicopter he was building.

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This article on physical activity in the classroom from 12WBOY of West Virginia expresses the importance of exercise in a first-grade classroom. The students earn with consistent movement integrated in the lessons to improve upon the country’s second highest state for childhood obesity. According to the CDC, “children should get at least an hour of exercise per day, which nearly 75% of children don’t.” To compete with the electronics kids navigate to and other challenges these newer generations do face, physical activity in the classroom gives kids the chance to not only exercise, but to remain focused on learning through movement and not general desk/chair arrangements. Especially as a PK-4 th grade classroom teacher, teachers could gain insight on this article by integrating movement in simple lessons. No matter the subject, there are plenty of creative ways to get children out of traditional classroom desks and give them an opportunity to perform what they know through physical activity. If not integrated in a lesson, physical activity breaks, like jumping jacks, have proven to help with student attentiveness.

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Andrea Goff's first grade classroom at Ruffner Elementary School is not what you would expect. Instead of desks lined neatly in rows, kids sit at round tables, and some children sit on small exercise ball chairs. Instead of sitting quietly and working on worksheets, kids are playing games and shouting and moving around. But Joshua Grant, Physical Education Coordinator at the West Virginia Department of Education, said that Andrea Goff is one of the best teachers at adding physical activity to the classroom, and in fact, she teaches other teachers across the state to do what she does.

"Andrea just constantly integrates physical activity throughout the day. It's seamless, her transitions are minimal, and the kids are just excited to learn," said Grant.

Almost everything Goff's students do in the classroom has movement attached to it. As they work on addition problems, she gives them hand motions and chants to learn how to put together a simple equation. Sometimes, she'll add in accents or tell them to do ten jumping jacks to learn how to count to ten. The movement, she says, helps her students memorize things.

"My math scores have improved since my first year of teaching through the roof," said Goff, "They're so focused on the movements that they're not even realizing that they're learning."

Ruffner Elementary School adds a few different ways for students to "get the wiggles out." They have a separate room called the Focus Room where students can go and exercise when a student feels distracted and needs a "brain break."

"Walk into any classroom and I don't expect to see rows of kids sitting the proper way," said Henry Nearman, Principal at Ruffner Elementary, "How many of us are sitting back straight with a book in front of us? Most of the time, we're laying on the couch or in a comfortable chair. Why not do that for our students?"

It's not just Ruffner Elementary that is trying out these new techniques. It's part of a new initiative happening across the country where teachers are incorporating physical activity in their lessons, and the West Virginia Department of Education is encouraging teachers to give it a try.

West Virginia has the second-highest rate of childhood obesity in the nation, and adding more exercise to the school day could help lower that rate. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that kids get at least an hour of exercise every day, but nearly 75% of kids don't. Researchers at the CDC say that adding physical activity to the classroom can help close the gap for kids who aren't getting enough exercise.

"Some of the things that they're facing today are things that are really this generation challenges, which the biggest thing is the digital age and electronics," said Sarah Lee, Lead Health Scientist at the CDC, "That is their norm that they live with and so that becomes more attractive than being physically active for example."

The West Virginia Prevention Research Center decided to do their own study on children's physical activity with a grant from the CDC. The project, called Activate!, used FitBits to track how increasing physical activity can affect test scores. Researchers split 33 schools into three groups randomly-one to study physical activity in the classroom, one for activity outside of school, and a control group. Preliminary results have been positive so far.

In the school intervention group, teachers were trained to add physical activity to the classroom using a tool kit developed by the researchers. The tool kit was designed to be inexpensive to accommodate for schools with tight budgets, and included simple items like Chinese jump ropes. With this, teachers were able to nearly double the time kids spent being physically active at school.

"One thing we wanted to focus on was making physical activity enjoyable, because at this early age, you don't want them to think of it as a chore or that it's exercise or something I don't want to do," said Nancy O'Hara Tompkins, Co-Investigator at the West Virginia Prevention Research Center.

One challenge teachers and schools might face in adding physical activity is that it would cut down on academic time, but Lee said that a majority of the studies on adding that extra time for physical activity show that students perform better despite the decrease in lecture time.

"We have not found studies that show that it negatively affects academic success," said Lee.

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west virginia prevention research center

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How adding jumping jacks can improve lesson plans - Studies show physical activity helps kids learn

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Andrea Goff's first grade classroom at Ruffner Elementary School is not what you would expect. Instead of desks lined neatly in rows, kids sit at round tables, and some children sit on small exercise ball chairs. Instead of sitting quietly and working on worksheets, kids are playing games and shouting and moving [...]

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Exercise and Fitness. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/phy_act.htm

This article is short but takes you through why people gain weight, which is normally due to increased calorie intake and weight loss is vice versa. It is said that exercise has a benefit of reducing risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The article then takes you through different everyday activities that could be required an exercise as well as multiple sporting activities that are required exercise. It then says that exercising can always be done all at one time or throughout the day.

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 Here's how much longer you can live with a healthy lifestyle. 

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 Here's how much longer you can live with a healthy lifestyle. 

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Park, A. (2020, January 8). Here's how much longer you can live with a healthy lifestyle. Retrieved from https://time.com/5761592/how-to-live-longer-and-healthier/

Research shows that maintaining healthy habits will help us live longer and many of those added years from sticking with health habits are free of common chronic disease. Some important habits to follow are eating a diet high in plants and low in fat, exercising a moderate to vigorous amount for several hours a week, maintaining a health body weight, not smoking, and consuming no more than one alcoholic beverage a day. It may be challenging to follow these habits, but it really proves to show a healthier and longer life. But, it is important to note that it is not about elongating lifespan, it is about extending health span.

This article is relevant to teachers because they should be not only promoting health habits, but also be models of those habits. Children will only follow certain actions if they are able to mimic those they look up to or see every day. Teachers actively involving exercise/ movement, healthy food promotion, and prevention of substance abuse—a stronger future we will have from our children.

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Scientists Calculated How Much Longer You Can Live With a Healthy Lifestyle

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Researchers worked out not just how much longer people can live when they have healthy habits, but also how healthy - and disease-free - those years might be

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1.    Physical Health https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/exercise.html

This article talks about ways to keep children physically healthy. It explains the benefits and elements of fitness and ways to keep children fit. It is important to keep children fit and explain to them how important it is to stay active. This article can be used for younger children to explain why being active is important especially in a time where children are so invested in technology.

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Jr., W. E. S. (2018, December 12). Physical education is key to longer, happier lives. Our kids and schools need more of it. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/12/12/kids-need-more-physical-education-core-school-subject-column/2216457002/

This article on physical activity from USA Today describes how important physical education and physical activity is for our elementary aged children. Physical education is not just a time for students to get exercise and run around, it teaches them much more. This article explains how physical education class teaches kids persistence, resilience, positive thinking, and how to stay healthy and live a healthy life. Physical education engages the whole child and promotes their physical and mental health and well being. Children are becoming more inactive due to the booming of technology. The article not only talks about the importance of physical education in schools, but how the funding for this class is at an all time low. Without physical education class in schools, children are lacking the knowledge they need for a healthy lifestyle which minimizes the activity in a child’s daily life putting them at risk for life-threatening diseases and depriving them of all the mental/cognitive benefits that come from exercise. Teachers can address the need of physical education through lessons in the classroom. If a student is not receiving or participating in physical education, teachers can incorporate movement activities into their daily lessons. Teachers also need to use the day for teachable moments in explaining the importance of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle to help our brains become strong to learn. Instruction in the classroom is evolving, and teachers need to be more knowledgeable of the benefits of movement throughout lessons. Teachers can use the knowledge and lessons in this article to incorporate movement breaks during class, or add in an exercise to help teach/learn a new topic. For example, instead of sitting in their seats and skip counting, teachers can teach third graders to jump for each number while skip counting. Physical activity has such a positive impact on children and their learning.

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This article was about a study about students who take part in physical exercises do better on tests than peers who are sedentary during their learning.  By having students get up and move during the lesson helps them remember the content, which helps them learn more effectively.  Teachers of PreK-4 would benefit from reading this article that way they can incorporate physical activity into their lessons.  Teachers could make a game incorporating movement, so students are engaged in what they are learning as well as remembering the content that goes along with the movement.

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Students who take part in physical exercises like star jumps or running on the spot during school lessons do better in tests than peers who stick to sedentary learning, according to a UCL-led study.

The meta-analysis of 42 studies around the world, published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to assess the benefits of incorporating physical activity in academic lessons. This approach has been adopted by schools seeking to increase activity levels among students without reducing academic teaching time.

Typical activities include using movement to signify whether a fact is true or false, or jumping on the spot a certain number of times to answer a maths question.

The study concluded that incorporating physical activity had a large, significant effect on educational outcomes during the lesson, assessed through tests or by observing pupils' attention to a given task, and a smaller effect on overall educational outcomes, as well as increasing the students' overall levels of physical activity.

Lead author Dr Emma Norris (UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "Physical activity is good for children's health, and the biggest contributor of sedentary time in children's lives is the seven or eight hours a day they spend in classrooms.

"Our study shows that physically active lessons are a useful addition to the curriculum. They can create a memorable learning experience, helping children to learn more effectively."

Co-author Dr Tommy van Steen (Leiden University, The Netherlands), added: "These improvements in physical activity levels and educational outcomes are the result of quite basic physical exercises. Teachers can easily incorporate these physical active lessons in the existing curriculum to improve the learning experience of students."

Researchers looked at data from 12,663 students aged between three and 14. Nearly half of the studies took place in the United States, with seven conducted in Australia, five in the UK, four in the Netherlands and one in China, Croatia, Ireland, Israel, Portugal and Sweden.

In one of the 42 studies analysed, eight- and nine-year-olds simulated travelling the world by running on the spot in between answering questions relating to different countries. The research team, also led by Dr Norris at UCL, concluded that the children were more active and more focused on the task than peers in a control group, following teachers' instructions more closely.

In another study in the Netherlands, primary school children who took part in physically active lessons three times a week over two years made significantly better progress in spelling and mathematics than their peers -- equating to four months of extra learning gains.

The study was conducted by researchers at UCL, Leiden University, the National University of Singapore, and the University of Sydney.

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educational psychology; k-12 education; numeracy; learning disorders; child development; child psychology; literacy; intelligence

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Physical activity in lessons improves students' attainment

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Students who take part in physical exercises like star jumps or running on the spot during school lessons do better in tests than peers who stick to sedentary learning, according to a UCL-led study. The meta-analysis of 42 studies around the world, published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to assess the benefits of incorporating physical activity in academic lessons.

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Learning through adventure: the many skills that can be taught outside the classroom

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Learning through adventure: the many skills that can be taught outside the classroom

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This article talks about how learning outside the classroom through adventurous activities is known to have educational benefits. Activities could be cycling, team building games, and different forms of cycling. Adventurous activities help children develop a "can do" attitude which they can apply to aspects of school. Adventurous activities also help children step outside of outside of their comfort zone; which helps them overcome fear, anxiety, and stress. Adventurous activities can benefit children academically, personally, and socially. Children can improve  their own learning and performance, improve their literacy, numeracy and communication skills through adventurous activities. Team building and trust activities help children socially and personally.

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Learning through adventure: the many skills that can be taught outside the classroom

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Improving social, physical and psychological abilities.

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Experts review evidence yoga is good for the brain 

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Experts review evidence yoga is good for the brain 

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This article talks about how aerobic exercise strengthens the brain and help grow new neurons. Aerobic exercise requires oxygen when exercising. One of the main benefits is strengthening the hippocampus which is involved in your memory. Yoga also helps with emotional regulation and reduction of stress.

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Scientists have known for decades that aerobic exercise strengthens the brain and contributes to the growth of new neurons, but few studies have examined how yoga affects the brain. A review of the science finds evidence that yoga enhances many of the same brain structures and functions that benefit from aerobic exercise.

The review, published in the journal Brain Plasticity, focused on 11 studies of the relationship between yoga practice and brain health. Five of the studies engaged individuals with no background in yoga practice in one or more yoga sessions per week over a period of 10-24 weeks, comparing brain health at the beginning and end of the intervention. The other studies measured brain differences between individuals who regularly practice yoga and those who don't.

Each of the studies used brain-imaging techniques such as MRI, functional MRI or single-photon emission computerized tomography. All involved Hatha yoga, which includes body movements, meditation and breathing exercises.

"From these 11 studies, we identified some brain regions that consistently come up, and they are surprisingly not very different from what we see with exercise research," said University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Neha Gothe, who led the research with Wayne State University psychology professor Jessica Damoiseaux.

"For example, we see increases in the volume of the hippocampus with yoga practice," Gothe said. Many studies looking at the brain effects of aerobic exercise have shown a similar increase in hippocampus size over time, she said.

The hippocampus is involved in memory processing and is known to shrink with age, Gothe said. "It is also the structure that is first affected in dementia and Alzheimer's disease."

Though many of the studies are exploratory and not conclusive, the research points to other important brain changes associated with regular yoga practice, Damoiseaux said. The amygdala, a brain structure that contributes to emotional regulation, tends to be larger in yoga practitioners than in their peers who do not practice yoga. The prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and brain networks such as the default mode network also tend to be larger or more efficient in those who regularly practice yoga.

"The prefrontal cortex, a brain region just behind the forehead, is essential to planning, decision-making, multitasking, thinking about your options and picking the right option," Damoiseaux said. "The default mode network is a set of brain regions involved in thinking about the self, planning and memory."

Like the amygdala, the cingulate cortex is part of the limbic system, a circuit of structures that plays a key role in emotional regulation, learning and memory, she said.

The studies also find that the brain changes seen in individuals practicing yoga are associated with better performance on cognitive tests or measures of emotional regulation.

The discovery that yoga may have similar effects on the brain to aerobic exercise is intriguing and warrants more study, Gothe said.

"Yoga is not aerobic in nature, so there must be other mechanisms leading to these brain changes," she said. "So far, we don't have the evidence to identify what those mechanisms are."

She suspects that enhancing emotional regulation is a key to yoga's positive effects on the brain. Studies link stress in humans and animals to shrinkage of the hippocampus and poorer performance on tests of memory, for example, she said.

"In one of my previous studies, we were looking at how yoga changes the cortisol stress response," Gothe said. "We found that those who had done yoga for eight weeks had an attenuated cortisol response to stress that was associated with better performance on tests of decision-making, task-switching and attention."

Yoga helps people with or without anxiety disorders manage their stress, Gothe said.

"The practice of yoga helps improve emotional regulation to reduce stress, anxiety and depression," she said. "And that seems to improve brain functioning."

The researchers say there is a need for more -- and more rigorous -- research into yoga's effects on the brain. They recommend large intervention studies that engage participants in yoga for months, match yoga groups with active control groups, and measure changes in the brain and performance on cognitive tests using standard approaches that allow for easy comparisons with other types of exercise.

"The science is pointing to yoga being beneficial for healthy brain function, but we need more rigorous and well-controlled intervention studies to confirm these initial findings," Damoiseaux said.

Gothe is an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I. Damoiseaux is an affiliate of the Institute of Gerontology at WSU.

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alternative medicine; psychology research; nervous system; brain tumor; intelligence; neuroscience; brain injury; brain-computer interfaces

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Experts review evidence yoga is good for the brain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Scientists have known for decades that aerobic exercise strengthens the brain and contributes to the growth of new neurons, but few studies have examined how yoga affects the brain. A review of the science finds evidence that yoga enhances many of the same brain structures and functions that benefit from aerobic exercise.

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The article talks about the key factors that may prevent children from engaging in physical activity. Interventions early in life should be implemented in order for positive habits to form. Parental involvement is encouraged and health facilities should be practical for students to promote a healthy lifestyle.

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Decline in physical activity often starts as early as age 7

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Overall physical activity starts to decline already around the age of school entry. While the proportion of physically inactive individuals rises with age there still are groups of people who manage to increase their physical activity level in adulthood and old age.

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Physical Activity in Educational Lessons

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Physical Activity in Educational Lessons

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This article explains that incorporating physical activity into educational lessons has proven to positively affect educational outcomes for that lesson. Based on recent research studies, children seem to be more active and have improved concentration and focus on the task at hand.

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Students who take part in physical exercises like star jumps or running on the spot during school lessons do better in tests than peers who stick to sedentary learning, according to a UCL-led study.

The meta-analysis of 42 studies around the world, published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to assess the benefits of incorporating physical activity in academic lessons. This approach has been adopted by schools seeking to increase activity levels among students without reducing academic teaching time.

Typical activities include using movement to signify whether a fact is true or false, or jumping on the spot a certain number of times to answer a maths question.

The study concluded that incorporating physical activity had a large, significant effect on educational outcomes during the lesson, assessed through tests or by observing pupils' attention to a given task, and a smaller effect on overall educational outcomes, as well as increasing the students' overall levels of physical activity.

Lead author Dr Emma Norris (UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "Physical activity is good for children's health, and the biggest contributor of sedentary time in children's lives is the seven or eight hours a day they spend in classrooms.

"Our study shows that physically active lessons are a useful addition to the curriculum. They can create a memorable learning experience, helping children to learn more effectively."

Co-author Dr Tommy van Steen (Leiden University, The Netherlands), added: "These improvements in physical activity levels and educational outcomes are the result of quite basic physical exercises. Teachers can easily incorporate these physical active lessons in the existing curriculum to improve the learning experience of students."

Researchers looked at data from 12,663 students aged between three and 14. Nearly half of the studies took place in the United States, with seven conducted in Australia, five in the UK, four in the Netherlands and one in China, Croatia, Ireland, Israel, Portugal and Sweden.

In one of the 42 studies analysed, eight- and nine-year-olds simulated travelling the world by running on the spot in between answering questions relating to different countries. The research team, also led by Dr Norris at UCL, concluded that the children were more active and more focused on the task than peers in a control group, following teachers' instructions more closely.

In another study in the Netherlands, primary school children who took part in physically active lessons three times a week over two years made significantly better progress in spelling and mathematics than their peers -- equating to four months of extra learning gains.

The study was conducted by researchers at UCL, Leiden University, the National University of Singapore, and the University of Sydney.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
educational psychology; k-12 education; numeracy; learning disorders; child development; child psychology; literacy; intelligence

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Physical activity in lessons improves students' attainment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students who take part in physical exercises like star jumps or running on the spot during school lessons do better in tests than peers who stick to sedentary learning, according to a UCL-led study. The meta-analysis of 42 studies around the world, published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to assess the benefits of incorporating physical activity in academic lessons.