title: Physical activity, physical fitness and academic achievement in adolescents: a self-organizing maps approach.
abstract: The relationship among physical activity, physical fitness and academic achievement in adolescents has been widely studied; however, controversy concerning this topic persists. The methods used thus far to analyse the relationship between these variables have included mostly traditional lineal analysis according to the available literature. The aim of this study was to perform a visual analysis of this relationship with self-organizing maps and to monitor the subject's evolution during the 4 years of secondary school. Four hundred and forty-four students participated in the study. The physical activity and physical fitness of the participants were measured, and the participants' grade point averages were obtained from the five participant institutions. Four main clusters representing two primary student profiles with few differences between boys and girls were observed. The clustering demonstrated that students with higher energy expenditure and better physical fitness exhibited lower body mass index (BMI) and higher academic performance, whereas those adolescents with lower energy expenditure exhibited worse physical fitness, higher BMI and lower academic performance. With respect to the evolution of the students during the 4 years, ∼25% of the students originally clustered in a negative profile moved to a positive profile, and there was no movement in the opposite direction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Departament de Didàctica de l'Expressió Musical, Plàstica i Corporal, Universitat de València, València, Spain, Facultat de Ciències de l'Esport Balanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain and Institute for Biophysics, Department of Nanobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: Maite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pellicer-Chenoll
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Departament de Didàctica de l'Expressió Musical, Plàstica i Corporal, Universitat de València, València, Spain, Facultat de Ciències de l'Esport Balanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain and Institute for Biophysics, Department of Nanobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Garcia-Massó
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Departament de Didàctica de l'Expressió Musical, Plàstica i Corporal, Universitat de València, València, Spain, Facultat de Ciències de l'Esport Balanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain and Institute for Biophysics, Department of Nanobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Departament de Didàctica de l'Expressió Musical, Plàstica i Corporal, Universitat de València, València, Spain, Facultat de Ciències de l'Esport Balanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain and Institute for Biophysics, Department of Nanobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Serra-Añó
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Departament de Didàctica de l'Expressió Musical, Plàstica i Corporal, Universitat de València, València, Spain, Facultat de Ciències de l'Esport Balanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain and Institute for Biophysics, Department of Nanobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: Mònica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solana-Tramunt
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Departament de Didàctica de l'Expressió Musical, Plàstica i Corporal, Universitat de València, València, Spain, Facultat de Ciències de l'Esport Balanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain and Institute for Biophysics, Department of Nanobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: Luis-Millán
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Departament de Didàctica de l'Expressió Musical, Plàstica i Corporal, Universitat de València, València, Spain, Facultat de Ciències de l'Esport Balanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain and Institute for Biophysics, Department of Nanobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 11, Vienna 1190, Austria jose.toca-herrera@boku.ac.at.
authors.forename: José-Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Toca-Herrera
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004522:Educational Status; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students