A single bout of acute physical activity increases overall academic outcomes in school-aged youth (Hedge's g = 0.35)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2024 · checked against its sources 2026-10-31 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 Across 11 included studies, acute physical activity increased overall academic performance with a small pooled effect (Hedge's g = 0.35, 95% CI 0.20-0.50). → Muntaner-Mas A 2024

Evidence¶

Muntaner-Mas A 2024¶

Muntaner-Mas A, Morales JS, Martínez-de-Quel Ó, Lubans DR, García-Hermoso A. (2024). Acute effect of physical activity on academic outcomes in school-aged youth: A systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis. Scand J Med Sci Sports. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14479

q3 · i1 · quant-synthesis · r3

Random-effects univariate meta-analysis (restricted maximum likelihood) pooling academic outcomes from 11 studies with 803 children and adolescents aged 6-16. The pooled effect was "Hedge's g = 0.35, 95% CI, 0.20-0.50" with moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 53.96%); the Doi plot showed no small-study effects (LFK = 1.10).

"Overall, our meta-analysis demonstrated that acute physical activity increased academic performance (Hedge's g = 0.35, 95% CI, 0.20-0.50, p < 0.001, I 2 = 53.96%) and no asymmetry suggestive of small-study effects was observed (LFK index = 1.10)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Physical Well-Being — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Acute physical activity improves language performance overall (g = 0.28 multivariate), driven by reading, with no significant effect on spelling or sentence comprehension — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Acute physical activity improves mathematics performance in school-aged youth (Hedge's g = 0.29 multivariate) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Acute physical activity has a positive effect on attention in preadolescent children (g = 0.43) — related
• Including behavior change techniques in acute physical activity interventions is the only moderator associated with larger academic effects (g = 0.54 vs 0.23) — related
• Evidence for effects of acute bouts of physical activity on children's attention is weak and inconclusive — reports the opposite
• Meta-analyses of physical activity effects on youth cognition and academic performance show small effect sizes (0.1–0.3) with substantial heterogeneity
• School-based physical activity interventions have a small positive weighted population effect on children's academic performance (rw = 0.181) — related
• Physical activity has null or small-to-medium positive effects on school-age children's and adolescents' academic achievement according to meta-analyses — related