Australia: 'Active boys smarter'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Teenage boys who are heavily into sport get new respect in a Swedish study that found physically active teenagers tend to be smarter than their couch-potato counterparts.

Researchers from the Institute of Medicine at the University of Gothenburg set out to see if aerobic or cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength were associated with brain power and future socioeconomic status.

They analysed a physical and intelligence snapshot taken of 1.2 million Swedish men born between 1950 and 1976 when they reported for mandatory military duty at age 18.

They also assessed genetic and family influences by looking at the scores of brothers and twins and, over time, the association between all initial scores and measures of success at midlife, including education level and occupation.

The researchers, led by Dr H Georg Kuhn, said the results showed a strong positive link between cardiovascular fitness and smarts but not between muscle strength and intelligence measures.'