According to the recent issue of Time magazine and studies completed in the Netherlands, the more physical children were, the better they scored on tests. In fact, the GPA was higher for children who were most active.
This is a perfect example of natural health. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, giving students an advantage over those who were sedentary. In an attempt to raise test scores and GPAs, schools all but eliminated P.E. and recess in favor of more instructional time. What has actually happened is scores and GPAs dropping due to lack of exercise.
Exercise is vital for all people of all ages. When people stop being active, they begin to lose brain function. Mind exercises are good, but the body needs to get up and get going to complete the brain's need for stimulation. More older people are experiencing memory loss at earlier ages. This is especially true of women.
A ride from the country to the city of Blairsville will encounter joggers from the twenty-somethings to the eighty-somethings. People on bicycles are found along the country roads and inside the city limits. The gyms and health clubs are packed. It is great to see people in the community getting or staying healthy. What is not seen while driving and passing homes is children playing in the yards.
Science Daily reported in Science News, "... exercise programs appear to improve memory, attention, and decision-making. These effects also extend to young and elderly adults, with solid evidence for aerobic training benefiting executive functions, including multi-tasking, planning, and inhibition, and increasing the volume of brain structures important for memory."
Parents, talk to the local school board, school principals and the Board of Education to reinstate school breaks designed to promote healthy exercise of the mind and body. Great natural health depends on doing what is natural.
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