Exercise Can Helps Kids Boost Intelligence

For years I have been telling my children that exercise is the answer to everything -- better health, better attitudes and lower stress.

Now it seems exercise might make them smarter as well. A study published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that teenage males who were in good cardiovascular shape performed better on various cognitive tests at age 18 than kids who werent' as fit.

It even worked for kids who weren't in that great of shape to start with and improved their level of fitness from ages 15-18.

In an article on MSNBC the author of the study Georg Kuhn, a professor at the Center for Brain Repair and Rehabilitation at the University of Gothenburg said that while he didn't feel this study by itself is conclusive, when it it viewed with other studies "we can assume that better cardiovascular fitness may optimize cognitive performance and academic achievements.”