Spark by John Ratey

This book intrigued me because I knew that there was a link between exercise and so many other aspects of our health. But, I did not know the science behind it, especially at this depth. Right away, the book began with a nice example of the science in action — through a school district. This district not only boasted high test grades but also a less than 10% obesity rate for its student population. While the book, yes, was published in 2008 and I might be a little late to learn more about some of these findings, they excited me nonetheless.

I’m always interested in different educational statistics. What has happened and why. What students are performing better and why. After thinking about myself and my personal experience, the following data did not surprise me.

Students with a higher standard of living scored higher on tests shown by CDE, when factoring in socioeconomic factors though, fitter kids scored better than unfit kids.

The author shared the next important note which I think encompasses the overall idea of the book — the goal is a life of fitness and thereby health, holistic health. To get there, the following is so important and I totally agree. My mom loves to run, but running is something that I have yet to become passionate about, I’d rather run sprints and train hard rather than run 5 miles, even if just for fitness.