title: Association between physical activity and teacher-reported academic performance among fifth-graders in Shanghai: a quantile regression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A growing body of literature reveals the causal pathways between physical activity and brain function, indicating that increasing physical activity among children could improve rather than undermine their scholastic performance. However, past studies of physical activity and scholastic performance among students often relied on parent-reported grade information, and did not explore whether the association varied among different levels of scholastic performance. Our study among fifth-grade students in Shanghai sought to determine the association between regular physical activity and teacher-reported academic performance scores (APS), with special attention to the differential associational patterns across different strata of scholastic performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2,225 students were chosen through a stratified random sampling, and a complete sample of 1470 observations were used for analysis. We used a quantile regression analysis to explore whether the association between physical activity and teacher-reported APS differs by distribution of APS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Minimal-intensity physical activity such as walking was positively associated with academic performance scores (β = 0.13, SE = 0.04). The magnitude of the association tends to be larger at the lower end of the APS distribution (β = 0.24, SE = 0.08) than in the higher end of the distribution (β = 0.00, SE = 0.07).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based upon teacher-reported student academic performance, there is no evidence that spending time on frequent physical activity would undermine student's APS. Those students who are below the average in their academic performance could be worse off in academic performance if they give up minimal-intensity physical activity. Therefore, cutting physical activity time in schools could hurt the scholastic performance among those students who were already at higher risk for dropping out due to inadequate APS.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Public Health, Shanghai, China; Child Health Advocacy Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yunting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, United States of America.
authors.forename: Donglan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yanrui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wanqi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wenjuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Public Health, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Shenghui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Public Health, Shanghai, China; Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002681:China; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*