Resource Library

Background: The association of physical fitness with cognitive function in children and adolescents is unclear. The purpose of this ecological study was to describe the association between academic achievement, body mass index, and cardiovascular fitness in a large sample of elementary, middle, and high school students in Texas.

OVERVIEW: 

• We review literature that examines the association among physical activity, aerobic fitness, cognition, and the brain in elementary school children (ages 7-10 years).

Denver Public Schools Community Use of Policy outlines the district's procedures for the community use of school facilities. 

Background:  Physical inactivity has been shown to increase the risk for several chronic diseases across the lifespan. However, the impact of physical activity and aerobic fitness on childhood cognitive and brain health has only recently gained attention.

Learn more about Safe Routes to School, including essential elements to consider when establishing a program and helpful statistics on the many benefits of Safe Routes to School in your community.

The joint-use of public school facilities offer educational, economic and environmental benefits for both schools and community. 

Over the past few decades, faith-based organizations across the country have been placing greater emphasis on health and wellness. 

Background:  There is a need for feasible and research-based interventions that target the cognitive performance and academic achievement of low-income adolescents.

Background: Travel to school offers a convenient way to increase physical activity (PA) levels in youth. We examined the prevalence and correlates of active commuting to school (ACS) in a nationally representative sample of Mexican adolescents. A secondary objective was to explore the association between ACS and BMI status.

Communities of color and/or lower income have higher rates of obesity. They also lack attractive, convenient, and safe places to be physically active.

KEY TAKEAWAY:

This review of the literature examined the history of research on physical activity, physical fitness, and academic performance and found a growing body of evidence for connections between these factors.

The primary purpose or function of public school facilities is to provide quality educational environments conducive to the learning of the students they serve. 

In this study, associations between objectively measured active commuting to school and cognitive performance and academic achievement in Dutch adolescents were investigated.

Neighborhood walkability has become an important public health concern. The child’s-eye view of safe and walkable environments is typically remiss from the literature. Particularly the experience of inner city kids, very different from that of suburban neighborhoods, remains unreported.

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that alterations in individual behaviors alone are not sufficient to change the course of the enduring public health epidemics such as childhood obesity

BACKGROUND:  We examined the association between the allocation of time to regular physical activity (PA) and achievement in mathematics and language in Chilean adolescents after controlling for confounders.

Changing aspects of walking school bus (WSB) programs or adding other interventions can maximize the effectiveness of this program in increasing active transport to school (ATS).

In this study, children were nearly eight times more likely to participate in active transportation if both Safe Routes to School programs and traffic calming measures were present. The presence of crossing guards was also associated with increased likelihood of active transportation.

This study of bicycle-transit synergy found that transit and cycling may be modal substitutes on a day-to-day basis but complements in the long term.

Detroit is a city with low-density housing and a high proportion of lower-socioeconomic-status multiethnic residents. Physical activity tends to be lower in low- to moderate-income urban communities.