Physical activity levels and mathematical performance. Research in a Primary Education school

The aim of this paper is to investigate the correlation between physical activity levels and mathematical performance in students from same primary education school. This research was a descriptive, non-experimental, quantitative study, with the participation of 120 children (67 boys and 53 girls), aged between 8 and 12 years old. After applying The Assessment of Physical Activity Levels Questionnaire (APALQ), maths scores from third to sixth grade students were assessed, analysing data according to their physical activity level: sedentary or active. Active students achieved higher scores in mathematics (7.92 +/- 1.16 compared to 7.72 +/- 1.42), although this difference was not significant (p>0.05) and the correlation was weak (r=0.184). According to gender, mean academic performance among active males was statistically greater than their sedentary peers (8.24 +/- 1.64 vs. 7.12 +/- 1.12; p=0.045). For girls, this result was inverse. To conclude, higher levels of physical activity are positively associated with better mathematical performance in the analysed students.