Sport Participation and Perceived Academic Performance of School Children and Youth. Different from the above studies’ tests of measurements, Linder (1999) used a questionnaire to gather data on both physical activity and academic performance of 4,690 9-18year old students in Hong Kong. Both tests were administered by trained data collectors to classrooms of students. Each student personally completed his/her questionnaires by rating their own physical activity and academic performance. After data analysis through the Statview computer program, results showed a significant but low correlation (more for the girls than for the boys) indicating that students who perceive themselves to have high academic performance generally participate in more physical activity (Linder, 1999). It is obvious that no direct correlations or causations can be assumed from this study, however a positive relationship between physical activity and perceived academic performance was found.

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