NIKI LAW
Updated 3.22pm: South China Morning Post September 27th 2002.
“Children who exercise regularly and relax will perform better academically, remember more and interact better than those always studying, a study revealed on Friday.
The study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s psychiatry department concluded that the stressful lifestyle of SAR people often affected their children.
During a year-long experiment, the department divided a group of more than 70 poorly performing primary school students, aged between seven and eleven, into two groups.
One group was asked to do relaxing exercises twice a week and use their imaginations. The other group only attended tutoring classes after school.
The students who relaxed and exercised improved academically and their average scores increased by four or more points. But the students attending tutorials recorded no improvement.
Moreover, boys and girls in the group of active students became less withdrawn due to less stress. The girls in the group complained less.
“Following a special diet of attending high-level courses does not heighten the capability of the brain,” associate Professor Agnes Chan Sui-yin said.
“Instead a simple routine… with time allocated to relaxation, sufficient exercise, mental exercise and a balanced diet… will help maintain or even increase the brain’s abilities,” she said.”
