title: Association Between Physical Fitness and Academic Achievement in a Cohort of Danish School Pupils.
abstract: Time spent on physical activity in elementary school has been altered to improve core academics. However, little is known about the relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement. We examined the association between physical fitness and academic achievement and investigated the influence of parental socioeconomic status and ethnicity.
  
  
  
  Participants were 542 girls and 577 boys aged 13 to 15 residing in the Danish municipality of Aalborg. A watt-max cycle ergometer test was completed to evaluate physical fitness as represented by VO2 max (mL·kg(-1) ·min(-1) ). Academic achievement was measured 1 school year later through a series of mandatory exams within the humanities, sciences, and all obligatory defined exams. Parental income and education were drawn from nationwide registers. Linear regression models were used to investigate the association.
  
  
  
  Adjusting for ethnicity and parental socioeconomic status, the effect size of the humanities was 0.08 grad/VO2 max (95% Cl: 0.05 to 0.11) for girls and 0.06 grad/VO2 max (95% Cl:0.03 to 0.08) for boys. The effect size of the sciences was 0.09 grad/VO2 max (95% Cl:0.05 to 0.13) for girls and 0.06 grad/VO2 max (95% Cl:0.03 to 0.09) for boys. The effect size of the defined exams was 0.09 grad/VO2 max (95% Cl:0.06 to 0.11) for girls and 0.06 grad/VO2 max (95% Cl:0.03 to 0.08) for boys.
  
  
  
  We found a statistically significant positive association between physical fitness and academic achievement after adjusting for ethnicity and parental socioeconomic status.
authors: Public Health and Epidemiology Group, Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Niels Jernes Vej 12 , 9220, Aalborg Øst, Denmark. mpan@hst.aau.dk.
authors: Mikkel P
authors: MP
authors: Andersen
authors: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aalborg University Hospital, 9000, Aalborg, Denmark. rnm@hst.aau.dk.
authors: Rikke N
authors: RN
authors: Mortensen
authors: Public Health and Epidemiology Group, Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg University, 9220, Aalborg Øst, Denmark. hvn@hst.aau.dk.
authors: Henrik
authors: H
authors: Vardinghus-Nielsen
authors: SMI, Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, 9220, Aalborg Øst, Denmark. jfranch@hst.aau.dk.
authors: Jesper
authors: J
authors: Franch
authors: Public Health and Epidemiology Group, Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, 9220, Aalborg Øst, Denmark. ctp@hst.aau.dk.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Torp-Pedersen
authors: Public Health and Epidemiology Group, Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Niels Jernes Vej 12, 9220, Aalborg Øst, Denmark. boggild@hst.aau.dk.
authors: Henrik
authors: H
authors: Bøggild
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D003718:Denmark; D004522:Educational Status; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012923:Social Class
keywords: academic achievement; cardiovascular health; physical fitness and sport; socioeconomic status and health