LEWISTON — Being physically active doesn’t just make youngsters healthier, it also makes them better students, according to a report given Monday night to the Lewiston School Committee.

Analysis showed that students rated as more physically fit on annual fitness reviews, or “Fitnessgrams,” performed better in math, language and reading tests. The results mirrored national data, said Bates College senior Molly Radis, who conducted research on Lewiston students with former Lewiston schools health coordinator Regis Beaulieu, now a health consultant for the school department.

In another Radis study, 92 fourth-graders at Farwell, Martel and McMahon elementary schools wore a pedometer at all times for one week to measure how many steps they took a day. National data recommends girls take 13,000 steps a day, boys 15,000 steps a day.

Overall Lewiston students did not achieve the recommended number of steps, which indicates they are not moving enough, Radis said. Lewiston students were “hovering at 50 to 55 percent” of the recommended steps. Boys took more steps than girls, and both boys and girls took more steps the days they were in school. “Weekends did tend to be a problem area. We may need to get parents involved so students can be active,” Radis said.

Like the Fitnessgram, “there’s a strong correlation between exercise and academic achievement,” she said. “We found a positive correlation between the recommended steps achieved and overall grade average. As their number of steps increased, so did their grades.” Children closer to achieving the recommended steps performed better, Radis said.

Radis and Beaulieu recommended school changes, including:

• Adding 15 minutes of physical activity every morning;

• Including movement as part of classroom lessons by teachers;

• Encouraging more participation in after-school programs with the help of parents or college students; and

• Making recess more structured by offering games like kickball, soccer or jump rope.

The analysis is part of ongoing work in Lewiston’s $500,000 John T. Gorman grant. Gorman, the grandson of L.L. Bean, awarded the grant to Lewiston to improve physical activity and find out whether more exercise enhances learning, reduces attendance and behavior problems.

“The data points that it does,” Beaulieu said.

Halfway through the three-year grant, all K-6 students are getting annual “Fitnessgram” assessments. Beaulieu is working with teachers to find effective ways to get students more active.

In some classrooms students get out of their desks and are allowed to move about the room with a clipboard, or use different kinds of activity as part of learning.

Some students who have been identified as hyperactive use exercise balls to sit on during class. “That has diminished interruptions in class. It’s making a huge difference,” Beaulieu said. Middle school students have more access to exercise equipment and different kinds of programs.

“We’re looking to develop momentum in the philosophy in the Lewiston public school system, in every classroom, K-12, where we’re going to engage the kids in more physical activity during the day,” Beaulieu said. When students are able to move more, it wires the brains to better receive knowledge, reduce stress and bad behavior. Moving more is something all administrators should be looking at, Beaulieu said. “It doesn’t cost a lot to do this.”

A lack of exercise has become the new epidemic, much like cigarette smoking was 20 years ago, he said. National statistics show that 65 percent of all adults are overweight or obese, and in Maine, 34 percent of the last three kindergarten classes statewide were overweight or obese.

Schools have the time to incorporate more physical activity. “The challenge is to do it. To make it a priority,” Beaulieu said

By June, Beaulieu plans to have recruited six more classes per school to incorporate “move to learn” in class. “We want to make it a buzz word.”

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Kyla Hill plays floor hockey with Andrew Bilodeau during their 5th grade gym class at Martel Elementary on Monday.