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Educating the Student Body
of training from changes expected with normal growth. Changes in body 
size, physique, and body composition associated with growth and matura-
tion are important factors that affect strength and motor performance. 
The relationships vary among performance measures and with age, and 
these factors often are inadequately controlled in studies of components of 
performance-related fitness and performance tasks.
PSYCHOSOCIAL HEALTH
Research supports the positive impact of physical activity on the 
overall psychological health and social engagement of every student. A 
well-designed physical education curriculum provides students with social 
and emotional benefits (NASPE, 2001). Simultaneously, exposure to fail-
ure experiences, emphasis on competitive sports, and elitism for naturally 
inclined athletes, along with bullying and teasing of unfit, uncoordinated, 
and overweight youth, may be important factors discouraging participation 
in current and future physical activity (Kohl and Hobbs, 1998; Sallis et al., 
2000; Allender et al., 2006). School-based physical activity, including physi-
cal education and sports, is designed to increase physical activity while also 
improving motor skills and development, self-efficacy, and general feelings 
of competency and engaging children socially (Bailey, 2006). The hoped-for 
psychosocial outcomes of physical education and other physical activity 
programs in the school setting have been found to be critical for continued 
physical activity across the life span and are themselves powerful long-term 
determinants of physical activity (Bauman et al., 2012). Unfortunately, sig-
nificant gaps exist between the intent and reality of school-based physical 
education and other activity programs (HHS, 2013). 
A large number of psychological and social outcomes have been exam-
ined. Specific aspects of psychosocial health showing a beneficial relation-
ship to physical activity include, among others, self-efficacy, self-concept, 
self-worth (Haugen et al., 2011), social behaviors (Cradock et al., 2009), 
pro-school attitudes, motivation and goal orientation (Digelidis et al., 
2003), relatedness, friendships (de la Haye et al., 2011; Macdonald-Wallis 
et al., 2011), task orientation, team building, bullying, and racial prejudice 
(Byrd and Ross, 1991). Most studies are descriptive, finding bidirectional 
associations between psychosocial outcomes and physical activity. Reviews 
and meta-analyses confirm a positive association between physical activity 
and self-esteem, especially for aerobic activities (McAuley, 1994).
Among psychosocial factors, self-efficacy (confidence in one’s ability to 
be physically active in specific situations) has emerged as an important cor-
relate of physical activity from a large body of work based on the durable 
and practically useful social learning theory (Bandura and McClelland, 
1977; Bandura, 1995). Bandura’s theory compels consideration of the 

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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
Relationship to Growth, Development, and Health
 
131
psycho social and physical environments, the individual, and in this case 
the behavior of physical activity. Using this framework, physical activity 
itself has been shown to be a consistent positive correlate as well as a deter-
minant of physical activity in children and adolescents. A large amount of 
reviewed research has found that physical education and physical activity 
experiences can increase children’s confidence in being active and lead to 
continued participation in physical activity (Bauman et al., 2012). RCTs 
have shown that both self-efficacy and social interactions leading to per-
ceived social support influence changes in physical activity (Dishman et 
al., 2009). Skill mastery, confidence building, and group support are well-
known strategies for advancing student learning and well-being in many 
educational domains in the school setting and apply equally to school 
physical education and other physical activity. Early observational studies 
of physical, social, and environmental determinants of physical activity 
at home, school, and recess indicated that prompts to be active (or not) 
from peers and adults accounted for a significant amount of the variance 
in directly observed physical activity (Elder et al., 1998). One longitudinal 
study following the variability and tracking of physical activity in young 
children showed that most of the variability in both home and recess activ-
ity was accounted for by short-term social and physical environmental 
factors, such as prompts from others and being outdoors (Sallis et al., 
1995). Another study, examining activity among preschool children, found 
that, contrary to common belief, most of the time spent in preschool was 
sedentary, and correlates of activity were different for preschool boys and 
girls (Byun et al., 2011). In addition, significant variation in activity by 
preschool site was noted, indicating that local environmental conditions, 
including physical environment and equipment, policies, and teacher and 
administrative quality characteristics, play an important role in promoting 
physical activity (Brown et al., 2009).
Studies in middle and high school populations have strengthened the 
evidence base on relationships among self-efficacy, physical activity, and 
social support (from adults and peers). This research has highlighted the 
central contribution of self-efficacy and social support in protecting against 
a decline in activity levels among adolescent girls (Dishman et al., 2009, 
2010). Evidence indicates further that these impacts spread to activities out-
side the school setting (Lytle et al., 2009). Findings of a related study suggest 
that leisure-time physical activity among middle school students was linked 
to motivation-related experiences in physical education (Cox et al., 2008).
A recent review of reviews (Bauman et al., 2012) found that population 
levels of physical activity are low and that consistent individual-level corre-
lates of physical activity are age, sex, health status, self-efficacy, and previous 
physical activity. Physical activity declines dramatically as children progress 
from elementary through high school (Nader et al., 2008). Boys are con-

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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
132