Middle school students in the best physical shape do better than
their less fit classmates on standardized tests (UPI) -- Middle
school students in the best physical shape do better than their
less fit classmates on standardized tests and report cards, U.S.
researchers say. Lead researcher Dawn Coe, an assistant
professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville who
conducted the research as a doctoral student in Michigan State
University's kinesiology department, said the study was among
the first to examine how academic performance relates to all
aspects of physical fitness -- including body fat, muscular
strength, flexibility and endurance. "We looked at the full
range of what's called health-related fitness," Coe said in a
statement. "Kids aren't really fit if they're doing well in just
one of those categories." Coe and colleagues gathered data from
312 students in sixth through eighth grade at a West Michigan
school by gauging the kids' fitness with an established program
of push-ups, shuttle runs and