Extracurricular physical activity and academic performance among Chinese adolescents with high body mass index: a longitudinal mediation analysis

This longitudinal study aimed to examine whether extracurricular physical activity is associated with academic performance among Chinese adolescents with high body mass index (BMI) and to assess the mediating roles of mental health and cognitive ability. The study included 221 adolescents with high BMI (BMI ≥ 24), with a mean age of 13.87 ± 1.14 years at baseline (T1) and 14.92 ± 1.28 years at one-year follow-up (T2). Data were collected across two survey waves separated by one year, assessing extracurricular physical activity, mental health, cognitive ability, and academic performance. Path analysis with bootstrapping was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. (1) Baseline extracurricular physical activity was significantly associated with academic performance at the one-year follow-up. (2) Mental health did not significantly mediate the relationship between extracurricular physical activity and academic performance, whereas cognitive ability served as a significant mediator. (3) The serial indirect effect was significant (β = 0.0117, 95% confidence interval 0.0003, 0.0293), though the direct path from physical activity to mental health was not significant. These findings suggest that physical activity programs incorporating psychological support and cognitive challenges may improve academic performance in adolescents with high BMI. Educational practitioners should incorporate psychological experiences and cognitive challenges into physical activity program design to achieve the comprehensive educational benefits of “physical and mental co-construction.”