Research article

Malaysian students’ involvement in physical activity and the impact on academic achievement

^*1Azlan Ahmad Kamal and ²Nurhidayah Yusari

¹Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) 40200 Shah Alam. Selangor, Malaysia

²Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan  Tunku Panglima Besar 09000 Kulim.Kedah. Malaysia

*Corresponding Author Email: azlankamal@gmail.com; Tel: +60122321040

Accepted 17 September, 2014

Abstract

Nowadays, students are not doing enough physical activity that is needed for a healthy body and they are so engrossed in their academic work. The issue of staying healthy in today’s hectic society is an environmental challenge that needs to be overcome. Physical activity is an important aspect of the Philosophy of Malaysian Education. The Malaysian government hope to produce students who are not only academically intelligent, but also intelligent in health as well. Producing future communities who are physically active and cognitively intelligent is very important for a better future. Studies also show that, there is relevance between active participation in physical activity and students’ academic achievement. It has been said that active participation in physical activity among university students can enhance their academic achievement. However, Tremblay, Inman, and Willms (2000) found that the relationship between physical activity and academic achievement was weak but that participation in physical activity was positively related to higher levels of self-esteem. Therefore, it is crucial to do a study on this topic again to get a richer result. This study focuses on students’ involvement in physical activity and its impact on academic achievement. It is aimed to identify the students’ participation of physical activity and factors that affect academic achievement. The samples of this study are 150 Physical and Health Education students from a public university in Malaysia. A fitness test was done to measure the students’ fitness level. Apart from that, questionnaires regarding the research objectives were distributed to the students to obtain data of the research. Result from the research conducted revealed that students who are active in physical activity have higher academic performance than those who are not active. The finding of the study is very useful for students to stay healthy for a better and healthier future.

Keywords: Environmental challengers, Physical Activities, Academic Achievement