Physical Activity
Why Does It Matter?
Staying physically active not only reduces the risk of chronic disease, but it stimulates the hippocampus, which plays a major role in learning and memory. One study found that regular aerobic exercise significantly increased hippocampal volume (Brinke et al., 2015). Read more...
Dr. John J. Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, also states that exercise optimizes your mind-set to improve alertness, attention, and motivation as well as encourages nerve cell binding, helping students learn new information (Ratey, 2021).
About the Instrument
The Physical Activity survey aims to understand whether individuals are meeting the physical activity recommendations set by the World Health Organization. This survey also provides information on the types and intensity of physical activity.
There are 16 questions included in the Physical Activity survey, and it takes 5-10 minutes to complete. Details about the questions and where they come from can be found in the document attached to this page.
Photo by Anthony Shkraba from Pexels
References
Brinke, L.F., Bolandzadeh, N., Nagamatsu, L.S., Hsu, C.L., Davis, J.C., Miran-Khan, K., Liu-Ambrose, T., 2015. Aerobic exercise increases hippocampal volume in older women with probable mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine 49, 248–254.. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2013-093184
Ratey, J. J., Hagerman, E., & Nonaka, K. (2021). Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain = No o kitaeru niwa undo shika nai : Saishin kagaku de wakatta nosaibo no fuyashikata [Japanese Edition]. NHK.