A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between

physical fitness and academic achievement.  The physical fitness levels were determined

by using the President’s Challenge Physical Fitness Test and academic achievement was

measured by STAR Reading percentile scores and Grade Point Averages (GPA).  This

study was based on the belief that physical fitness levels influence an individual’s cognitive functioning and the ability to achieve academically.  This study is warranted because more research was deemed necessary in order to better understand the relationship between the two variables. There were 90 participants in this study.  These subjects were in grades 4 or 5. 51% of the participants were male, and 49% were female. Results from the study indicated that 4% of the males had an average physical fitness level above the 85th percentile based on all five physical fitness tests.  2% of the females had an average physical fitness level above the 85th percentile based on the five physical fitness tests used in the study. The researcher used multiple regressions to see if a relationship existed between physical fitness and academic achievement. This correlation procedure enables researchers to find the best possible weighting of two or more independent variables to yield a maximum correlation with a single dependent variable. The value of p was calculated to be < 0.0001 (< 0.05), which indicates a significant correlation between physical fitness levels, based on the President’s Challenge Physical Fitness Test, and STAR Reading percentile scores and Grade Point Averages.