Sixty Minutes of Physical Activity per Day Included Within Preschool Academic Lessons Improves Early Literacy

BACKGROUND The effects of increases in physical activity ( PA ) on early literacy skills in preschool children are not known. METHODS Fifty‐four African‐American preschool children from a low socioeconomic urban Head Start participated over 8 months. A 2‐group, quasi‐experimental design was used with one preschool site participating in the PA intervention and a second site participating as the control site. The PA program was designed to promote 300 minutes/week of moderate to vigorous PA academic lessons. Academic achievement related to early literacy and phonological awareness in the areas of rhyming and alliteration were assessed at baseline, 4 and 8 months. RESULTS Over 8 months, rhyming significantly (p < .01) improved in the PA group (173±12%) compared with the controls (28 ± 8%) resulting in between group differences at 8 months (p < .01). Alliteration significantly (p < .01) improved in the PA group (52 ± 16%) compared with controls (13 ± 5%), resulting in between group differences at 8 months (p < .01). As minutes of exposure to moderate to vigorous PA increased, the change in picture naming ( R 2 = .35, p < .05), alliteration ( R 2 = .38, p < .05), and rhyming ( R 2 = .42, p < .05), increased. CONCLUSION A teacher‐directed PA program is effective at increasing PA and improving early literacy.