School Health, Academic Performance and Exercise (SHAPE) Study. Dwyer et al. (1983) discusses two phases in a longitudinal study on 10-year-old schoolchildren in South Australia who participated in an enhanced physical education program, pre and post fitness tests, and academic tests.

The first phase (1978) involved a sample of 519 students from 7 primary schools. This sample consisted of the following three groups: a control group (who participated in the schools’ original physical education program), a fitness group (who participated in 1 ¼ hours/day of an enhanced fitness program for a 14-wk period), and a skill group (who participated in a sport skill-focused program similar to the enhanced fitness program for a 14-wk period). Before and after the program commenced, students’ fitness levels were assessed through endurance tests, 4-site caliper tests, blood pressure measurements, and blood lipid levels. Results from the fitness tests showed the fitness group improved significantly in the areas of increases in physical work capacity (PWC) and decreases in body fat but not in the other fitness areas assessed. When sample groups were compared to academic performance, no significant differences appeared. However, the fitness group, with a 45-60 minute decrease in academic instruction, still tended to have higher math scores and were reported to be better behaved than the other two groups (Dwyer et al., 1983).

The second phase (1980) revisits and evaluates a sample (216 students, 10 years old) who continued participation in the enhanced physical education program for two years (from it’s commencement). The fitness test results in this phase revealed students in the fitness group to again have significant increases in PWC and decreases in body fat as Phase I showed two years previously. Additionally, they also revealed lower blood pressure which was statistically significant in the males’ diastolic pressure (Dwyer et al., 1983). Once again, no significant increases or decreases in academic performance were evident even though the classroom instruction was curtailed by 45-60 minutes a day.

By Leslee Scheuer, Tech Impact Grant Coordinator, University of Central Florida, 2003/2004