Relationship between Physical Activity Levels and Academic Performance in Adolescents from Serbia

Background/Objectives: Today’s high school students often engage in sedentary behavior by choosing passive activities during leisure time. Increasing research shows that regular physical activity (PA) provides benefits beyond physical health, especially important during childhood and adolescence. Ou...

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Main Authors: Tamara Ilić, Stefan Stojanović, Doroteja Rančić, Bojan Milenko Jorgić, Rareș Stănescu Cristian, Daniel Andrei Iordan, Codreanu Corneliu Mircea, Stoica Leonard, Ilie Onu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-09-01
Series:Children
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/10/1198
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author Tamara Ilić
Stefan Stojanović
Doroteja Rančić
Bojan Milenko Jorgić
Rareș Stănescu Cristian
Daniel Andrei Iordan
Codreanu Corneliu Mircea
Stoica Leonard
Ilie Onu
author_facet Tamara Ilić
Stefan Stojanović
Doroteja Rančić
Bojan Milenko Jorgić
Rareș Stănescu Cristian
Daniel Andrei Iordan
Codreanu Corneliu Mircea
Stoica Leonard
Ilie Onu
author_sort Tamara Ilić
collection DOAJ
description Background/Objectives: Today’s high school students often engage in sedentary behavior by choosing passive activities during leisure time. Increasing research shows that regular physical activity (PA) provides benefits beyond physical health, especially important during childhood and adolescence. Our study investigated the association between physical activity levels and academic performance (AP) in Serbian adolescents. Methods: We selected a sample of 836 fourth-grade high school students (avg. 17.9 ± 0.7 years old) who completed the IPAQ (short-version) and the Academic Performance Scale. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 21.0. Due to non-normal data distribution, Spearman’s correlation was used and hierarchical regression analysis to assess the association between PA and AP. Results: The findings revealed significant correlations between vigorous, moderate and light PA, as well as overall units of metabolic equivalent of task (METs), with AP (<i>p</i>-values: 0.000, 0.005, 0.021, 0.004, respectively), although with weak correlation coefficients (0.127, 0.098, 0.080, 0.181, respectively). Vigorous PA influenced AP by 10.1%, moderate PA by 8.2%, and light PA by 11.4%. Conclusions: These results suggest that adolescents engaging in higher PA levels tend to have better AP. This finding indicates a substantial association between PA levels and AP, with both moderate and vigorous PA showing a positive correlation and influence. Further investigation is necessary to comprehensively grasp the link between light PA and AP.
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spelling doaj-art-ed8355d29b4e441fb7e54f997c9a38f52025-08-20T02:11:14ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672024-09-011110119810.3390/children11101198Relationship between Physical Activity Levels and Academic Performance in Adolescents from SerbiaTamara Ilić0Stefan Stojanović1Doroteja Rančić2Bojan Milenko Jorgić3Rareș Stănescu Cristian4Daniel Andrei Iordan5Codreanu Corneliu Mircea6Stoica Leonard7Ilie Onu8Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš, 18106 Niš, SerbiaFaculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš, 18106 Niš, SerbiaFaculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš, 18106 Niš, SerbiaFaculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš, 18106 Niš, SerbiaFaculty of Physical Education and Sport, National University of Physical Education and Sports of Bucharest, 060057 Bucharest, RomaniaResearch Centre for Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galati, 800008 Galati, RomaniaResearch Centre for Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galati, 800008 Galati, RomaniaResearch Centre for Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galati, 800008 Galati, RomaniaDepartment of Individual Sports and Kinetotherapy, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, 800008 Galati, RomaniaBackground/Objectives: Today’s high school students often engage in sedentary behavior by choosing passive activities during leisure time. Increasing research shows that regular physical activity (PA) provides benefits beyond physical health, especially important during childhood and adolescence. Our study investigated the association between physical activity levels and academic performance (AP) in Serbian adolescents. Methods: We selected a sample of 836 fourth-grade high school students (avg. 17.9 ± 0.7 years old) who completed the IPAQ (short-version) and the Academic Performance Scale. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 21.0. Due to non-normal data distribution, Spearman’s correlation was used and hierarchical regression analysis to assess the association between PA and AP. Results: The findings revealed significant correlations between vigorous, moderate and light PA, as well as overall units of metabolic equivalent of task (METs), with AP (<i>p</i>-values: 0.000, 0.005, 0.021, 0.004, respectively), although with weak correlation coefficients (0.127, 0.098, 0.080, 0.181, respectively). Vigorous PA influenced AP by 10.1%, moderate PA by 8.2%, and light PA by 11.4%. Conclusions: These results suggest that adolescents engaging in higher PA levels tend to have better AP. This finding indicates a substantial association between PA levels and AP, with both moderate and vigorous PA showing a positive correlation and influence. Further investigation is necessary to comprehensively grasp the link between light PA and AP.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/10/1198exercisescholarly achievementhigh school studentssedentary behavior
spellingShingle Tamara Ilić
Stefan Stojanović
Doroteja Rančić
Bojan Milenko Jorgić
Rareș Stănescu Cristian
Daniel Andrei Iordan
Codreanu Corneliu Mircea
Stoica Leonard
Ilie Onu
Relationship between Physical Activity Levels and Academic Performance in Adolescents from Serbia
Children
exercise
scholarly achievement
high school students
sedentary behavior
title Relationship between Physical Activity Levels and Academic Performance in Adolescents from Serbia
title_full Relationship between Physical Activity Levels and Academic Performance in Adolescents from Serbia
title_fullStr Relationship between Physical Activity Levels and Academic Performance in Adolescents from Serbia
title_full_unstemmed Relationship between Physical Activity Levels and Academic Performance in Adolescents from Serbia
title_short Relationship between Physical Activity Levels and Academic Performance in Adolescents from Serbia
title_sort relationship between physical activity levels and academic performance in adolescents from serbia
topic exercise
scholarly achievement
high school students
sedentary behavior
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/10/1198
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