Physical activity boosts boys' reading skills

A study carried out by academics in Finland has found a link between high levels of physical activity and academic achievement in the first few years of primary school.

However, in girls there were fewer associations between physical activity and sedentary behaviour and how well they did academically.

Nevertheless, the researchers found that all children benefited from being more physically active during break-time and walking or cycling to and from school, which was linked to better reading skills.

They also found that children who took part in organised sports did better at maths.

Boys who played computer and video games more than their peers were also found to have higher maths scores.

The researchers suggested that this could be because playing games includes counting, recognising numbers and tasks using visual and spatial perception, which improves maths skills.

Researchers looked at the relationship between different types of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the first year of school when children are six - to reading and maths skills in grades 1-3, when children are six- to eight-years-old.

The research involved 107 boys and 79 girls in Finnish primary schools.

The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, was conducted in collaboration with the longitudinal Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study at the University of Eastern Finland and the First Steps Study at the University of Jyväskylä.

Both independent studies are taking placed simultaneously among primary school children in the city of Kuopio in Finland.