Author(s): Larry Proctor and L Jerome Brandon

Abstract:
The impact of fitness, and overweight on the cognitive development of children and adolescents is not clear and this is especially true for low income minority children. Therefore, this study was designed to assess associations of body mass index and fitness with academic outcomes in African American children living in the Louisiana Delta. From 256 children contacted, 104 (58 males and 46 females) with an average age of 9.1 ± 1.5 years participated in this study. Results indicate that overweight and poor cardiorespiratory fitness, in otherwise fit children, were consistent predictors of reading and math scores for these children. Although further study is needed, these findings suggests overweight and to a lesser extent, cardiorespiratory fitness are more associated with academic outcomes in African American children than other measures of fitness and that overweight is more associated with academic outcomes in low income African American female than African American male children.

Pages: 146-150  |  1019 Views  86 Downloads

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