School physical activity interventions did not significantly improve language, reading, or composite academic scores compared with controls¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2022 · checked against its sources 2026-10-31 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q3 i? Sub-group meta-analyses found the interventions were not capable of significantly improving academic achievement in language, reading, and composite scores. → Loturco 2022

Evidence¶

Loturco 2022¶

Loturco, I.; Montoya, N.P.; Ferraz, M.B.; Berbat, V.; Pereira, L.A. (2022). A Systematic Review of the Effects of Physical Activity on Specific Academic Skills of School Students. Educ. Sci. 2022, 12, 134. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12020134

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2

Random-effect meta-analysis of 31 included studies, split into subgroups of 4 language-test, 10 reading-assessment, and 9 composite-score studies. The review reports the interventions "were not capable of signiﬁcantly improving academic achievement in language, reading, and composite scores." No effect size values are printed for these null results.

"The sub-group analyses revealed that the interventions were not capable of signiﬁcantly improving academic achievement in language, reading, and composite scores."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

Academic and Critical Literacy — outcome: instruction changes it
Reading and Language — outcome: instruction changes it

Performance in mathematics tests significantly improved after school-based physical activity interventions compared with control groups — related
Effects of school-based physical activity on academic performance are not uniform and appear higher for mathematics skills — related
Physical activity interventions in childhood show no overall benefit for executive functions or academic achievement — a broader claim this one bears on
A significant overall improvement in academic achievement was detected after physical activity programs compared with controls — reports the opposite

Page metadata

Field	Value
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-10-31`
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