The Trois Rivieres Experience. A 6-year study completed on 546 (6-12 year old) Canadian rural and urban students cited by Shephard (1984), Shephard and Lavallee (1993), and Trudeau et al. (1998) showed a positive relationship between increased physical activity and academic performance over time. The sample included a control group (students who continued to receive the established physical education program) and an experimental group (students who received an enhanced physical education program including an l hour/day increase of physical education and 13-14% decrease in academic instruction). Both groups came from the same schools and were classes that alternated one-another. Physical fitness was measured through an aerobic test, administered within two weeks of each students’ birthday, which assessed maximum oxygen uptake (VO2) and physical work capacity at a heart rate of 170 (PWC170). Classroom reported French, English, Mathematics, Science, and Conduct grades were used to determine academic performance. As one might expect, the experimental group showed improvements in physical fitness; “experimental students showed a significant advantage of VO2 peak from 8 to 11 years (M is less than F; urban less than rural)” and “PWC 170 values confirmed a training response in the boys but not in the girls” (Shephard & Lavallee, 1993). Additionally, the experimental group developed an academic advantage over the control group over time Shephard concludes:

“During the first year of observation, the students in the control classes had, on an average, somewhat better

grades than the experimental students, but in Grades 2 through 6 the experimental students outperformed

the controls, significantly so in Grades 2, 3, 5, and 6 [see Figure 4 below]. MANOVA showed a highly

significant gender/program interaction, with the girls gaining a larger advantage than the boys from participation

in the enhanced physical education program” (1997).

It should be noted, one additional long-term benefit of the experimental group appeared in a follow-up study; the original experimental group continued to maintain higher physical activity levels 20 years after their initial involvement in the program (Trudeau et al., 1998). In 1998, a long-term follow-up study of the original Trois Rivieres experience surveyed a sample of 150 experimental subjects and 103 control subjects to acquire information about their present physical activity levels, attitudes, beliefs, and barriers. Trudeau et al. (1998) study results indicated that the experimental group women tended to exercise more than control group women, “experimental subjects more commonly perceived their health to be very good to excellent,” and “women in the experimental group had a lower relative risk of back problems.” This follow-up finding does not offer a causal affect or direct correlation, however the information supplied supports the theory that children’s increased involvement in physical activity will affect their long-term exercise involvement and health.

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