The Association of Physical Activity, Sports Participation and BMI with Academic Performance.

Year 2022, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 47 - 65, 30.12.2022

Alessio Magro Renzo Kerr-cumbo Ayrton Zarb

Abstract

Several studies have argued that physical activity and sports participation, or scoring high in the Body Mass Index (BMI), may impede students from achieving high marks throughout their scholastic year. The rationale behind this study was to test for these hypotheses to scientifically test if such variables have a causation effect on students’ marks. Using a quantitative approach through self-reported online questionnaires, the produced results prove that there is no correlation between sports activity and the unweighted average mark obtained by University of Malta (UoM) students and those following courses within the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). Furthermore, the study did not produce any statistically significant correlations between the amount of physical activity by the student and the average mark obtained by students at the end of their academic year. However, the produced regression models prove that the BMI score of a person has a negative causation effect on the academic mark obtained by the student, whereby for every additional BMI category that students reach, their average end-of-year score decreases by 1 mark, signaling that obesity is having a negative impact on students’ academic performance. Also, despite regular physical activity having no direct effect on academic performance, still it was proven to influence the BMI score. This leads this study to suggest the promotion of more physical activity within educational institutions ultimately affects students’ performance.

Keywords

sports activity, sports participation, BMI, academic mark

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