The practice of structured physical activities during childhood and adolescence is associated with greater academic perseverance leading to obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent.
This is what is implied by the results of a pan-Canadian study carried out by master’s student Laurie-Anne Kosak, under the direction of Professor Linda Pagani, from the School of Psychoeducation at the University of Montreal.
This research project, the results of which are published in the journal Childrenis based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth and follows the journey of 2,775 young Canadians aged 12 to 20 from 1996 to 2001. This data was obtained through questionnaires distributed in three waves to young people and their parents over this six-year period.
The research team, made up of partners from three universities and also including doctoral student Kianoush Harandian from UdeM, grouped the types of physical activities that young people reported having carried out over the previous 12 months into three categories. , including organized or team sport, artistic sport (dance or gymnastics for example) and unstructured physical activity (such as cycling or playing outside).
These data were combined with the academic results obtained by the young people six years later, when they were 18 years old, then 20 years old.
Contrasted results depending on gender
Kianoush Harandian, Linda Pagani et Laurie-Anne Kosak
Credit: Courtesy
One of the particular aspects of this research is the distinction, between girls and boys, of the effect of physical activity on academic results.
Among girls, participation in organized sports was associated with a 7.1% increase in the odds of obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent; playing an organized sport or an artistic sport was also linked to obtaining better grades. Conversely, unstructured physical activity among girls was associated with lower average grades at age 18.
Among boys, only one association emerges from the results: practicing an organized sport leads to a 14.6% increase in the chances of obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent at the age of 20.
How can we explain this effect of organized sport?
“Practicing an organized sport requires a structure that comes with rules and objectives,” write the authors of the study. Supervised by an adult and often practiced in a team, this type of activity allows children to acquire key skills – leadership, group behavior, prolonged attention – which can be transferred to lessons.
“However, we must keep in mind that our conclusions are based on data collected from 1996 to 2001, well before the explosion of screens and digital platforms,” warns Linda Pagani. The confounding factors would be greater and possibly more problematic today.”
The influence of socio-economic factors
Illustration of the trends observed during Laurie-Anne Kosak’s research project, taken from her scientific article.
The study, which is part of a series of three articles* on extracurricular physical activity, highlights the crucial influence of socioeconomic factors on sports practice: the mother’s level of education, family income and even maternal mental health plays a determining role in children’s access to physical activities.
Thus, children whose mothers do not have a diploma or who live in low-income families are less likely to participate in organized physical activities.
This is why the findings of this study should be of interest to policy makers.
“Our results raise questions regarding the equity of access to structured sports and their potential repercussions on academic success: we must reduce the financial and logistical obstacles for parents who would like to encourage organized sport among their children. Organized sports are often expensive or require travel,” concludes Laurie-Anne Kosak, who is pursuing her doctoral studies at the University of Sherbrooke.
*The series was jointly funded by Sport Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The other two articles appeared in the journals Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise and theInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
