Exercise, Learning, and School

How often do your kids get significant exercise?  We all know that exercise is good for physical health, but did you know that physical exercise also builds the brain?  No matter how old you are, you can always build new brain cells with exercise.  For moms who grew up learning that it was all downhill after 20 because “brain cells start to die around the age of 21,” this is exciting news.  Not only was this false, it was kind of depressing to hear at school!

Exercise causes the release of BDNF, a substance which fosters neurogenesis (formation of new brain cells).  When physical exercise is followed by learning, the new information can fill the new cells.  Physical exercise lays the neural tracks for learning, much like laying down new railroad tracks for a train to travel.  Exercise literally fosters new brain cells and if we time it right, we can then fill those cells with new information.

When children exercise before school or class, that exercise literally primes their brain for learning.  Most kids roll out of the bed and into their school desk (with or without any breakfast) and sit there for hours on end.  I can’t think of any situation less optimal for a child to learn new information.  If that weren’t bad enough, Physical Education is being cut from schools more and more often.  A friend recently told me that the local elementary school had cut recess to 15 minutes, and that the children are not allowed to run on the playground.  What fun.

Inmates in jail get more time outdoors than children in school do for recess these days.  Now that PE has been cut from most curriculums, children are getting less exercise than ever.  Not only is this counterintuitive, I believe that this sedentary routine lays the groundwork for poor lifestyle habits throughout life.  After all, the top lifestyle risk factors for disease and reduced longevity are sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and alcohol and substance abuse.  I then wonder if our school systems are being run by the dumbest people that ever lived.

Exercise with your kids today, have as much fun as possible together, and follow your child’s natural propensity for learning. They will naturally gravitate towards the things that they find interesting, and you can follow along with them.  Movement and learning go hand in hand, and exercise is the glue that can help your child hold new information together.  If you are active in your school, promote PE and more movement within school hours.

That’s all for today, folks.  THREE POSTS IN THREE DAYS?  What is this, 2008??  Ta-ta for now!