Last week I read an interesting article in the Danish newspaper, Politiken. The article was written by Danish doctor, author and runner, Bente Klarlund, and it contained some very interesting facts.
Bente Klarlund's introductory question was: Do runners become runners, because they are smarter? Or do runners become smarter, because they are runners? And then she listed some facts from various studies all pointing to the fact that running (or any sport leading to an improved physical condition) actually also makes you smarter.
The reason for this (in layman's terms) is that a period of around three month with regular exercise makes the hippocampus grow and improves your shortterm memory. The hippocampus is the part of the brain - the "door" - through which all memories pass.
There are various other factors also playing a role in influencing a person's memory, but in general, Bente Klarlund points out, we can count on the fact that exercise makes us smarter. I can certainly enjoy this benefit in my own personal life, but looking at my children, this theory becomes even more interesting.
In my own completely non-scientific observation of my own children, their friends and thinking back to my own school days (Yes, it is a looong time ago) I seem to have observed, that the children involved in regular sports generally did better in school than those who didn't exercise at all. Of course it is a trend, and I am sure that most of you will have more than one example of a football jock who did nothing but sports, and still didn't get good grades, or the computer nerd, who didn't move at all and still did great in school.
However, the article - especially in relation to our children - certainly gave me something to think about. And again it was confirmed that exercise should always be an important part of our lives.
