IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i22p14750-d968186.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relationship between Physical Fitness and Academic Performance in University Students

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Redondo-Flórez

    (Faculty of Sport Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Madrid, Spain)

  • Domingo Jesús Ramos-Campo

    (Department of Health and Human Performance, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Martin Fierro Street, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez

    (Faculty of Sport Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

Several studies involving students have been developed with the objective to analyse the influence of different factors on academic performance. Nevertheless, all these studies were focused on stress and sympathetic modulation response instead of contemplating other physiological parameters that may affect academic performance. The aim of the present study was to analyse body composition, cardiovascular, sleep habits and physical activity factors related to the academic performance of university students. Two hundred and sixty-one students with bachelor’s degrees in physical activity and sports science participated in the present study (age: 22.49 ± 3.84 years; weight: 73.94 ± 11.4 kg; height: 176.28 ± 7.68 cm; 87.7% males). Participants were divided into two groups according to their academic performance: low academic performance group (LAPG) and high academic performance group (HAPG). Body composition, blood pressure, physical activity and sleep habits were measured, and maximum oxygen uptake was estimated by the Cooper’s 12 min run test. The results show that students with a high academic performance presented a higher VO 2 max than the LAPG (LAPG = 40.32 ± 6.07; HAPG = 47.91 ± 6.89 mL/kg/min; p < 0.001), as well as lower diastolic blood pressure (LAPG = 72.44 ± 14.27; HAPG = 67.48 ± 13.50 mmHg; p < 0.01) and insomnia levels caused by breathing problems (LAPG = 0.37 ± 0.8; HAPG = 0.13 ± 0.42 a.u.; p = 0.046). Therefore, we found a relevant association between academic performance and VO 2 max, diastolic blood pressure, and insomnia caused by breathing problems. These results highlight the importance of applying different programmes that may improve these factors, especially those related to physical activity and sleep habits in order to improve academic achievement.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Redondo-Flórez & Domingo Jesús Ramos-Campo & Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez, 2022. "Relationship between Physical Fitness and Academic Performance in University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-9, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:14750-:d:968186
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14750/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14750/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laura Redondo-Flórez & Domingo Jesus Ramos-Campo & Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez, 2021. "Body Composition, Psychological, Cardiovascular, and Physical Activity Factors Related with Academic School Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-10, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohamed A. Zayed & Mohamed A. Moustafa & Musaddag Elrayah & Ibrahim A. Elshaer, 2024. "Optimizing Quality of Life of Vulnerable Students: The Impact of Physical Fitness, Self-Esteem, and Academic Performance: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paula Sánchez-Conde & Ana Isabel Beltrán-Velasco & Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez, 2022. "Analysis of the Objective and Subjective Stress Response of Students and Professors in Practical Nursing Exams and Their Relationship with Academic Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-8, July.
    2. Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez & Laura Redondo-Flórez & Alejandro Rubio-Zarapuz & Ismael Martínez-Guardado & Eduardo Navarro-Jiménez & José Francisco Tornero-Aguilera, 2022. "Nutritional and Exercise Interventions in Cancer-Related Cachexia: An Extensive Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-27, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:14750-:d:968186. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.