Revising on the run or studying on the sofa: prospective associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and exam results in British adolescents

• Published in: The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 106
• Main Authors: Corder, Kirsten, Atkin, Andrew J, Bamber, Diane J, Brage, Soren, Dunn, Valerie J, Ekelund, Ulf, Owens, Matthew, van Sluijs, Esther M. F, Goodyer, Ian M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 04-09-2015; BioMed Central Ltd
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Achievement; Adolescent; adolescents; Body mass index; Computers; Cross-Sectional Studies; Educational Measurement; emotions; Exercise; Female; games; Health aspects; Health behavior; Humans; Internet; linear models; Male; males; Motor Activity; physical activity; Physical fitness; Prospective Studies; reading; Schools; secondary education; Sedentary Behavior; Self Report; Teenagers; Television; Television viewers; United Kingdom; Youth; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 1479-5868; 1479-5868
• DOI: 10.1186/s12966-015-0269-2

BACKGROUND: We investigated prospective associations between physical activity/sedentary behaviour (PA/SED) and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results in British adolescents. METHODS: Exposures were objective PA/SED and self-reported sedentary behaviours (screen (TV, Internet, Computer Games)/non-screen (homework, reading)) measured in 845 adolescents (14·5y ± 0·5y; 43·6 % male). GCSE results at 16y were obtained from national records. Associations between exposures and academic performance (total exam points) were assessed using multilevel mixed-effects linear regression adjusted for mood, BMI z-score, deprivation, sex, season and school; potential interactions were investigated. RESULTS: PA was not associated with academic performance. One-hour more accelerometer-assessed SED was associated with (β(95 % CI)) 6·9(1·5,12·4) more GCSE points. An extra hour of screen time was associated with 9.3(−14·3,-4·3) fewer points whereas an extra hour of non-screen time (reading/homework) was associated with 23·1(14·6,31·6) more points. Screen time was still associated with poorer scores after adjusting for objective PA/SED and reading/homework. CONCLUSIONS: An extra hour/day of screen time at 14·5y is approximately equivalent to two fewer GCSE grades (e.g., from B to D) at 16y. Strategies to achieve the right balance between screen and non-screen time may be important for improving academic performance. Concerns that encouraging more physical activity may result in decreased academic performance seem unfounded.