Extracurricular physical activity and academic performance among Chinese adolescents with high body mass index: a longitudinal mediation analysis.

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Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice Sci Rep . 2026 Apr 12;16:17045. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-47332-w Extracurricular physical activity and academic performance among Chinese adolescents with high body mass index: a longitudinal mediation analysis Bao Gen Zhang 1, ✉ , Xiao Fang Qian 2 Author information Article notes Copyright and License information 1 School of Physical Education, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, 510500 China 2 Department of Physical Education, School of Humanities, Zhao Qing Medical College, Zhao Qing, 526061 China ✉ Corresponding author. Received 2025 Nov 17; Accepted 2026 Mar 31; Collection date 2026. © The Author(s) 2026 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ . PMC Copyright notice PMCID: PMC13230833  PMID: 41968161 Abstract This longitudinal study aimed to examine whether extracurricular physical activity is associated with academic performance among Chinese adolescents with high body mass index (BMI) and to assess the mediating roles of mental health and cognitive ability. The study included 221 adolescents with high BMI (BMI ≥ 24), with a mean age of 13.87 ± 1.14 years at baseline (T1) and 14.92 ± 1.28 years at one-year follow-up (T2). Data were collected across two survey waves separated by one year, assessing extracurricular physical activity, mental health, cognitive ability, and academic performance. Path analysis with bootstrapping was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. (1) Baseline extracurricular physical activity was significantly associated with academic performance at the one-year follow-up. (2) Mental health did not significantly mediate the relationship between extracurricular physical activity and academic performance, whereas cognitive ability served as a significant mediator. (3) The serial indirect effect was significant ( β = 0.0117, 95% confidence interval [0.0003, 0.0293]), though the direct path from physical activity to mental health was not significant. These findings suggest that physical activity programs incorporating psychological support and cognitive challenges may improve academic performance in adolescents with high BMI. Educational practitioners should incorporate psychological experiences and cognitive challenges into physical activity program design to achieve the comprehensive educational benefits of “physical and mental co-construction.” Keywords: Extracurricular physical activity, Academic performance, Mental health, Cognitive ability, High BMI Subject terms: Health care, Psychology, Psychology Introduction Multidimensional developmental dilemmas in children and adolescents with high body mass index (BMI) Obesity in children and adolescents has been one of the most serious global public health challenges since the beginning of the twenty-first century. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents has steadily increased worldwide, reaching epidemic levels in many countries 1 . In China, rapid economic development, improved living standards, and significant lifestyle changes have contributed to a marked rise in high BMI among children and adolescents; consequently, China has the largest population of individuals with high BMI worldwide 2 . Elevated BMI among children and adolescents directly endangers physical health by increasing the risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and bone problems. Moreover, it exerts profound adverse impacts on mental health, social cognition, and academic performance 3 . Children with obesity (a condition often indicated by high BMI) and adolescents are more vulnerable to depression and anxiety than their normal-weight peers because they are more likely to suffer from social stigma, peer bullying, and discrimination. These experiences contribute to elevated levels of damaged self-esteem, social avoidance, anxiety, and depression 3 , 4 . Such psychological distress not only creates immediate harm but also fosters unhealthy coping behaviors, including emotional eating and reduced physical exercise, thereby creating a detrimental feedback loop 5 . Elevated BMI negatively affects academic cognitive abilities, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, among children and adolescents 6 . Furthermore, neuroimaging studies have indicated that children with high BMI or obesity have weakened brain activity during cognitive control tasks, indicating reduced neural efficiency and academic-related cognitive processing 7 . Together, negative mental health and cognitive deficits inevitably restrict academic performance. Consistent with this, cross-sectional surveys have demonstrated that children with obesity (typically corresponding to high BMI) and adolescents tend to exhibit poorer academic outcomes than their normal-weight peers, potentially owing to lower school attendance, decreased learning engagement, limited classroom participation, and potential cognitive disparities 8 , 9 . However, few studies have systematically examined how extracurricular physical activity influences academic performance in adolescents with high BMIs, while simultaneously accounting for the combined effects of mental health and cognitive ability. This gap limits our understanding of the mechanisms linking physical and academic development in this population. Addressing this complex health and developmental dilemma requires developing effective intervention strategies. Extracurricular physical activity is widely recognized as a cornerstone of obesity prevention and management, with substantial evidence supporting its benefits. Moreover, participation in extracurricular physical activities can alleviate depression symptoms, enhance social interaction and self-confidence, and improve cognitive function and academic performance among children and adolescents with obesity or overweight (conditions typically reflected by high BMI) 10 . However, the mechanisms by which extracurricular physical activity translates into improved academic performance, particularly via the dual pathways of mental health and cognitive functioning, remain insufficiently understood. Elucidating these pathways is a crucial research priority in the fields of health and educational sciences. Literature review Impact of extracurricular physical activity on mental health and cognitive function in children and adolescents Physical activity can be divided into two types: structured and unstructured. Structured physical activity usually refers to planned activities with clear objectives, such as physical education classes. By contrast, extracurricular physical activity encompasses sports activities outside the school physical education curriculum, in which students voluntarily participate in organized or spontaneous activity. These activities are characterized by autonomy, an interest orientation, and relatively relaxed environments, which are more conducive to sustained enthusiasm and persistent participation among children and adolescents 11 . Numerous empirical studies have indicated that extracurricular physical activity improves body composition and weight control 12 , increases bone density 13 , and enhances basal metabolic rate 14 and cardiopulmonary function 15 among children and adolescents. Beyond these physical advantages, participation in extracurricular physical activity exerts a profound positive impact on mental health and cognitive function among children and adolescents. Regarding mental health, numerous studies have consistently demonstrated that systematic and regular participation in extracurricular physical activity significantly reduces psychological distress among children and adolescents, including reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms 16 , as well as improvements in subjective well-being and life satisfaction 17 . The mechanisms underlying these effects are multifaceted, involving both biological and psychosocial pathways. At the biological level, a review of 37 studies suggested that regular extracurricular physical activity mitigates symptoms of depression and anxiety through neuroendocrine regulation, inflammatory inhibition, and brain structure optimization 18 . Moreover, such activities elevate levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which is directly associated with increased hippocampal volume and reduced risk of depression in children and adolescents 19 . At the psychosocial level, extracurricular physical activity provides a platform for children and adolescents to compete and confront one another through teamwork and communication, allowing them to receive peer support, build positive friendships, develop social skills, and gain successful experiences and recognition, which directly and significantly enhance their self-efficacy 20 , physical self-esteem, and overall self-esteem 21 . In terms of cognitive function, extracurricular physical activity plays a particularly important role in shaping brain structure and function. Neuroimaging evidence suggests that regular participation in extracurricular physical activity among children and adolescents enhances gray matter volume and thickness in the prefrontal cortex and improves neural network connectivity efficiency 22 . Additionally, extracurricular physical activities have been demonstrated to significantly improve cognitive flexibility 23 , working memory, and inhibitory control among children and adolescents 24 . These higher-order cognitive abilities are the foundation of effective classroom learning, problem-solving, and academic achievement. For adolescents with high BMI, who may experience baseline cognitive disadvantages, improvements in these domains through physical activity may be particularly crucial for promoting academic success. Impact of mental health and cognitive ability on academic performance among children and adolescents Academic performance represents a core indicator of children’s and adolescents’ development outcomes and is shaped by a large and complex multifaceted ecosystem. Traditional research has emphasized the decisive roles of intelligence, learning motivation, teaching quality, and family socioeconomic status. However, contemporary psychosocial models have highlighted the significant contributions of mental health and cognitive function to academic achievement. Recently, several high-impact empirical studies have examined the mechanisms by which these two core factors affect academic performance. Mental health status, especially depression and anxiety in mood disorders, has been identified as a significant predictor of academic decline 25 , 26 . Children and adolescents experiencing anxiety are more likely to exhibit abnormal amygdala-prefrontal functional connections, resulting in a temporary decrease in working memory capacity and increased problem-solving errors 27 . Likewise, depressive symptoms significantly affect academic performance by eroding intrinsic learning motivation and goal-oriented behavior, reducing the use of deep learning strategies 28 . Furthermore, anxiety—especially social anxiety—may seriously disrupt classroom participation, group cooperation, and teacher-student interactions, thereby hindering knowledge acquisition and application 29 . Cognitive ability, as a core element of learning, has a systematic, multilevel impact on academic performance. Its constituent processes, including working memory, executive function, and metacognition, are highly related to performance across academic domains. Neuroimaging studies have reported that working memory capacity is positively correlated with problem-solving and reading comprehension 30 , 31 . As a higher-order cognitive regulation system, cognitive ability includes three components, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory update, that have a broad impact on academic performance. Studies have suggested that the effect of cognitive ability on academic performance strengthens with age 32 . Cognitive ability supports learning by facilitating strategic flexibility, enhancing inhibitory control, and maintaining goal-directed attention 33 , 34 Additionally, recent studies have indicated that metacognitive training improves academic performance in children and adolescents by promoting deep conceptual integration, optimizing learning strategy selection, and enhancing the monitoring of learning processes 35 . Connection between mental health and cognitive ability in extracurricular physical activity, academic performance, and the exploration of integration models Although robust theoretical associations and preliminary empirical evidence have supported links among extracurricular physical activity, mental health, cognitive ability, and academic performance, integrating these four core variables into a clear mechanism-of-action model, specifically for children and adolescents with high BMI, remains underdeveloped. Several significant gaps persist. First, existing literature has predominantly assessed isolated pathways, such as the direct impact of extracurricular physical activity on mental health or cognitive ability, or the direct impact of mental health and cognitive ability on academics. However, the academic benefits of extracurricular physical activities are unlikely to be transmitted through a single pathway. Rather, they appear to operate through two parallel paths that are independent of each other and may interact. On the one hand, extracurricular physical activity enhances children’s and adolescents’ self-esteem and improves their emotional state, which may further enhance their learning motivation and classroom participation 18 , 36 . On the other hand, extracurricular physical activity directly improves cognitive function, thereby enhancing information processing efficiency and strategic learning capacity 37 . The lack of paths may lead to an underestimation of effect sizes or misinterpretation of intervention mechanisms, resulting in suboptimal program design and reduced intervention efficacy. Second, mechanisms specific to adolescents with high BMI require verification. Prior studies have primarily been conducted in normal-weight populations or mixed samples without weight stratification. Children and adolescents with high BMI may face unique physiological limitations, including low physical fitness and exercise-related discomfort 38 , 39 ; psychological barriers, such as sports shame and low self-efficacy; and social obstacles, including peer ridicule and stigma 40 . Moreover, they may exhibit baseline cognitive disadvantages 41 . These factors contribute to different exercise patterns, experiences, and effects. Existing studies have suggested that reducing depression and anxiety may be a prerequisite for effectively releasing cognitive resources in children and adolescents with high BMI 42 . Other studies have reported that improving weight-related or obesity-associated physiological dysfunction may represent a unique biological pathway through which physical activity enhances mental health and cognitive performance 43 . These population-specific pathways warrant systematic investigation. Third, concerning research methodology, most existing studies have relied on cross-sectional surveys, rendering it difficult to establish causal associations among variables and their dynamic trajectories over time. Psychological state, cognitive ability, and academic performance of children and adolescents with high BMI exhibit significant developmental and temporal characteristics. The intervention effect of extracurricular physical activity on cognitive function and academic achievement in this group usually accumulates over a period before gradually appearing. However, the lack of longitudinal evidence constrains understanding of the lagged and cumulative mechanisms through which physical activity shapes academic performance via mediating variables, such as mental health and cognitive function. Identifying such time lags and cumulative effects is essential for clarifying internal mechanisms and optimizing intervention timings. Therefore, this study adopted a longitudinal tracking design to systematically explore the dynamic associations among extracurricular physical activity, mental health, cognitive ability, and academic performance in children and adolescents with high BMI. Hypothesis 1 (H1) Extracurricular physical activity at T1 significantly positively predicts academic performance at T2 . Hypothesis 2 (H2) Mental health at T2 mediates the relationship between extracurricular physical activity at T1 and academic performance at T2 . Hypothesis 3 (H3) Cognitive abilities at T2 mediate the relationship between extracurricular physical activity at T1 and academic performance at T2 . Hypothesis 4 (H4) Mental health and cognitive performance in T2 exert a chain-mediated effect between extracurricular physical activity at T1 and academic performance at T2 . By analyzing the multidimensional benefits and potential mechanisms of extracurricular physical activity among children and adolescents with high BMI, this study aims to provide an empirical basis for the construction of a structured and precise multidimensional intervention program to help mitigate the adverse developmental chain related to high BMI (and associated health risks) and promote overall improvement in physical health, psychological state, cognitive ability, and academic achievement. Methods Data sources Data for this study were obtained from the China Education Tracking Survey. The baseline survey included 19,487 participants, of whom 9,449 were successfully followed up after one year. The dataset has been publicly released for academic research and is available at http://ceps.ruc.edu.cn/English/Home.htm . This study utilized publicly available, anonymized secondary data. The original China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, and its protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Renmin University of China. Informed consent was obtained from the parents/legal guardians of all participating adolescents. The use of this anonymized dataset for the current analysis was exempt from further ethical review by our institution. From the 9,449 participants with follow-up data, the analytic sample was constructed using the following sequential exclusion criteria: (1) participants with missing data on any study variables at either baseline (T1) or follow-up (T2); (2) values exceeding ±3.29 SDs on any primary variable as extreme outliers; and (3) only participants with BMI ≥ 24 at T1 were retained. The sample selection process proceeded as follows: of the 9449 participants with follow-up data, 1,323 were excluded due to missing data on study variables, 359 were excluded as extreme outliers, and 7546 were excluded for having BMI < 24, resulting in a final analytic sample of 221 adolescents with high BMI (135 boys and 86 girls), representing approximately 2.3% of the original baseline cohort. Participants were classified as having high BMI based on a cutoff of ≥ 24 kg/m 2 , which approximates the 95th percentile for Chinese children and adolescents aged 13–15 years according to national growth standards and is commonly used to define obesity in epidemiological studies. The term “high BMI” was adopted for consistency and to reflect the application of a simplified threshold. This specific subgroup was the focus of the present investigation. We acknowledge that the attrition and selection process may limit the generalizability of findings to the broader population of Chinese adolescents with high BMI. The mean ages at the first and second survey (T1 and T2) were 13.87±1.14 and 14.92 ± 1.28 years, respectively. Variable measurement Extracurricular physical activity Extracurricular physical activity during weekends was used as an independent variable. Participants reported their average daily time spent in extracurricular physical activity on weekends, which was doubled to estimate weekend extracurricular physical activity duration. This measure captures discretionary activity time but does not assess activity intensity, type, or weekday participation. Potential limitations, including recall bias, are addressed in the study’s limitations section. Mental health Mental health was assessed using the Mental Health Short Version Scale from the Center for Epidemiological Research. Participants retrospectively evaluated their emotional experiences during the previous seven days across 10 items covering symptoms of anxiety, depression, unhappiness, sadness, and meaninglessness in life. Example questions included, “How often have you been depressed in the past seven days?” Responses were rated on a five-point Likert scale (1 = never , 2 = rarely , 3 = sometimes , 4 = often , and 5 = always ), yielding total scores ranging from 10 to 50, with higher scores indicating greater psychological distress (i.e., poorer mental health). The scale demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach’s α coefficient values of 0.913 and 0.905 at T1 and T2, respectively, and half-folded reliability of 0.877 and 0.849, respectively. Total scores were used as a global index of psychological distress. Although dimensional analyses were beyond this study’s scope, the scale has demonstrated strong validity for screening adolescent mental health problems. Cognitive ability Cognitive ability was measured using the standardized CEPS cognitive test, which served as the second mediator (M2) in the serial mediation model. The test comprises multiple item formats, including language analogy, numerical laws, and spatial graphics, to systematically measure participants’ basic cognitive functions, such as logical thinking, pattern recognition, and problem-solving, with a total possible score of 30. Item response theory (IRT) modeling was employed to calibrate parameters and standardize scores, thereby generating comparable estimates of cognitive ability and reducing measurement bias. The resulting IRT-based scores provide a robust continuous measure of general cognitive abilities with good psychometric properties. Academic performance Academic performance was operationalized using participants’ standardized examination scores in three subjects: Chinese, mathematics, and English. The mean of the three subject scores was calculated to obtain a composite academic performance score. These core subject scores play a key role in academic evaluation and educational selection processes in Chinese secondary education. Data analysis Following data extraction, cases with extreme values, invalid responses, or missing samples were identified and excluded to obtain a clean analytic dataset. Variable codes were uniformly revised, and the cleaned data were imported into SPSS 25 to perform univariate descriptive statistics and correlation analyses among multiple variables. To test the hypothesized chain mediation model, we employed Model 6 in the PROCESS macro (Version 4.0) for SPSS, with 5,000 bootstrap samples to estimate confidence intervals (CIs). T1 extracurricular physical activity was specified as the predictor, T2 mental health (M1) and T2 cognitive ability (M2) as sequential mediators, and T2 academic performance as the outcome variable. All mediation models controlled for baseline (T1) academic performance, age, sex, parental education level (as a proxy for socioeconomic status), and school type. Preliminary checks indicated no severe multicollinearity (all variance inflation factors < 2). Although mental health and cognitive ability were measured at both time points, T2 scores were used as mediators to capture their explanatory role in the longitudinal association between T1 physical activity and T2 academic performance. Baseline (T1) levels of academic performance, mental health, and cognitive ability were included as covariates in sensitivity analyses, with results remaining substantively unchanged. As a robustness check, physical activity was also categorized into tertiles, and the mediation analysis was replicated, producing comparable findings. Common method bias test Data on extracurricular physical activity and mental health were collected via self-report questionnaires. Cognitive ability and academic performance were obtained via standardized testing and school records, respectively. To examine potential common method bias among the self-reported variables, Harman’s single-factor test was conducted. The first factor accounted for 23.69% of the total variance, which is below the 40% threshold, suggesting that common method bias was unlikely to substantially influence the results. Results Describe statistics and correlation analysis Paired-sample t-tests revealed a significant improvement in academic performance from T1 (M = 62.11, SD = 21.45) to T2 (M = 64.44, SD = 22.06) (t [220] = 4.87, p < 0.001). Mental health scores showed no significant change between T1 (M = 19.51, SD = 6.12) and T2 (M = 19.74, SD = 5.99) (t [220] = 0.89, p = 0.373). Table 1 presents descriptive statistics and correlation analysis results for physical activity at T1, mental health at T2, cognitive ability at T2, and academic performance at T2. Correlation analysis showed significant correlations among the four variables. T1 extracurricular physical activity was significantly negatively correlated with T2 mental health (r = − 0.165, p < 0.05), indicating that higher levels of physical activity were associated with lower psychological distress (i.e., better mental health). T2 mental health was significantly negatively correlated with T2 cognitive ability (r = -0.319, p < 0.01) and T2 academic performance (r = − 0.166, p < 0.05), indicating that lower psychological distress was associated with higher cognitive ability and academic performance. These correlation directions are consistent with theoretical expectations and most of the existing literature. T1 extracurricular physical activity was significantly positively correlated with T2 cognitive ability (r = 0.306, p < 0.01) and T2 academic performance (r = 0.315, p < 0.01). Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficient matrix of each variable. M SD T1 Extracurricular Physical Activities T2 mental health T2 cognitive abilities T2 academic performance T1 extracurricular physical activity 34.25 32.38 1 T2 mental health 19.74 5.99 − 0.165* 1 T2 cognitive abilities 21.56 5.45 0.306** − 0.319** 1 T2 academic performance 64.44 22.06 0.315** − 0.166* 0.439* 1 Open in a new tab M = mean; SD = standard deviation; T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2. ** indicates significance at the. 0.01 level (two-tailed), and * indicates significance at the 0.05 level (two-tailed). The mental health scale is a negative indicator; higher scores indicate greater psychological distress (poorer mental health). Serial mediation model testing In this study, the longitudinal chain mediation model was tested using the PROCESS procedure for SPSS (Version 4.0). Table 2 shows the specific results. Table 2. Path coefficients for the serial mediation model among children and adolescents with high BMI (n = 221). Effect Item Effect SE LLCI ULCI Direct effect X → Y 0.1299 0.0428 0.0456 0.2143 Indirect effect X-M1-Y 0.0016 0.0069 -0.0128 0.0158 T-M2-Y 0.0655 0.0258 0.0225 0.1237 X-M1-M2-Y 0.0117 0.0075 0.0003 0.0293 Total indirect effect 0.0788 0.0256 0.0351 0.1341 Total effect 0.2088 0.0438 0.1224 0.2951 Open in a new tab X = independent variable; Y = dependent variable; M1 = mediator 1 (mental health); M2 = mediator 2 (cognitive abilities); Effect values are standardized coefficients (β); SE = standard error; LLCI = lower limit of the 95% confidence interval; ULCI = upper limit of the 95% confidence interval. Among children and adolescents with high BMI, extracurricular physical activity at T1 had a statistically significant direct effect on academic performance at T2 (β = 0.1299; 95% CI [0.0456, 0.2143, excluding 0]). However, the indirect effect through mental health alone was not significant (β = 0.0016, 95% CI [ -0.0128, 0.0158, including 0]). By contrast, the pathway through cognitive ability alone was significant (β = 0.0655, 95% CI [0.0225, 0.1237]). The specific indirect effect for the serial pathway from physical activity through mental health to cognitive ability and then to academic performance (X → M1 → M2 → Y) was also statistically significant (β = 0.0117, 95% CI [0.0003, 0.0293]). Importantly, the direct path from extracurricular physical activity to mental health (X → M1) was not statistically significant. This suggests that the detectable chain effect is likely driven by the association between mental health and cognitive ability (M1 → M2), coupled with the strong mediation via cognitive ability alone (X → M2 → Y), rather than by a direct effect of physical activity on mental health. Discussion This study systematically explored the longitudinal associations between extracurricular physical activity and academic performance among children and adolescents with high BMI while simultaneously investigating the mediating roles of mental health and cognitive ability using a one-year follow-up design. Notably, despite the longitudinal design, which strengthens temporal inference, this study remains observational. Therefore, our findings indicate predictive relationships and potential mediation pathways rather than definitive causal effects. The following is a comprehensive discussion of this study’s findings in relation to existing empirical evidence and theoretical frameworks. Continuous predictive effect of extracurricular physical activity on academic performance The results validated H1, i.e., that baseline (T1) extracurricular physical activity significantly and positively predicts academic performance at the one-year follow-up (T2). These findings suggest that, in adolescents with obesity, participation in extracurricular physical activity had a crowding effect on learning time and promoted medium- and long-term academic performance. From a mechanistic perspective, physical activity may affect academic achievement through multisystem synergy. At the physiological level, extracurricular physical activity helps improve cardiovascular function and promotes the secretion of neuroactive substances, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factors, thereby optimizing brain function and cognitive flexibility 44 . At the psychosocial level, extracurricular physical activity provides an important platform for emotional regulation and social interaction, helping relieve stress and enhance a sense of belonging, thereby creating a more conducive emotional environment for learning 45 . These findings align with prior empirical studies on the strong association between physical activity and academic performance 46 , 47 . This study extends existing evidence by focusing specifically on Chinese adolescents with high BMI and by providing new evidence of the temporal and predictive association between extracurricular physical activity and academic performance through longitudinal data modeling. It also controlled for baseline academic performance, thereby enhancing the robustness of causal inference. Despite multiple disadvantages, including health risks, psychological adaptation challenges, and weak cognitive foundations in adolescents with high BMI, this study found that extracurricular physical activity exhibits significant academic promotion functions. Additionally, the sample for this study came from educational and cultural backgrounds in East Asia, which have a heavy schoolwork burden and attach great importance to academic performance. In this context, the positive effects of extracurricular physical activities on academic performance were not attenuated by academic demands; rather, they may have been amplified through mechanisms such as emotional regulation and cognitive enhancement. These findings carry important implications for educational policymaking, especially in academic cultures that prioritize scholastic achievement, underscoring the value of integrating physical activity into educational practice. Mediating role of mental health The longitudinal mediation analysis found that mental health at T2 had no significant effect on extracurricular physical activities at T1 or academic performance at T2. Therefore, H2 was not validated. Contrary to H2, mental health did not serve as a standalone mediator. This indicates that, for our sample, the academic benefits of extracurricular physical activity were not primarily explained by reductions in general psychological distress. The significant chain mediation effect (H4), despite the non-significant X → M1 path, warrants cautious interpretation. It may reflect a process where pre-existing or concurrently measured mental health status acts as a catalyst or facilitator for the cognitive benefits derived from physical activity, rather than being a direct outcome of it. This pattern aligns with the notion that emotional well-being can free up cognitive resources, thereby enhancing the efficiency of cognitive processes that are themselves bolstered by exercise. Previous studies have indicated that children and adolescents with high BMI often experience psychosocial stressors such as weight stigma and peer exclusion 48 , 49 . When the activity environment is supportive and inclusive, physical activity can offer these adolescents valuable experiences of social success, a sense of team belonging, and positive peer interactions that directly counter daily experiences of stigma 50 . However, the absence of a significant overall effect on mental health in our study suggests that these benefits may be highly complex and context-dependent. Conversely, suppose the activity environment is filled with ridicule, competitive exclusion, or social rejection, physical activity may become a new stressor that weakens, negates, or even reverses its theoretically positive effects on mental health 51 . Furthermore, as highlighted by Hawker’s research on adolescent psychological stressors, issues such as peer exclusion and bullying in social relationships are often more central stressors than academics 52 . Moreover, the mental health scale used in this study may not have captured academic-specific emotional dimensions. The one-year observation window may also have been insufficient to observe the transformation of psychological benefits into academic outcomes. Educators and parents should focus on building an inclusive, supportive, and process-oriented sports environment, emphasizing participation experience, cooperative interaction, and emotional development, rather than simply prioritizing competition and sports performance. Such an approach is crucial for mitigating potential negative experiences and creating conditions in which physical activity might support broader well-being. The absence of a significant direct mediational role for mental health may be particular to the experience of adolescents with high BMI, for whom participation in physical activity can be a double-edged sword. While exercise has inherent mood-regulating properties, the activity context may simultaneously trigger weight stigma, body image concerns, or social anxiety—factors that are strongly associated with poor mental health in this population. Thus, the net effect captured by our global mental health measure might be neutralized. Future research should incorporate measures of weight stigma, body appreciation, and social safety in physical activity settings to better comprehend these complex dynamics. Mediating role of cognitive function Using a longitudinal mediation model, this study confirmed that cognitive ability at T2 mediated the relationship between extracurricular physical activity at T1 and academic performance at T2. This finding suggested that extracurricular physical activity directly affected academic performance and, indirectly, improved academic performance among children and adolescents with high BMI by promoting the development of core cognitive functions. These results echoed the study of neural mechanisms underlying exercise-promoting brain plasticity and provided empirical support for the role of physical activity in cognitive and academic improvement. From a neurobiological perspective, theories of brain plasticity provide a strong explanation for this mediating pathway: regular physical activity can upregulate the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factors and promote hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity in the prefrontal cortex, thereby enhancing the neural basis of learning and memory 53 – 55 . Complementarily, cognitive load theory suggests that physical activity helps improve executive functions, such as working memory and inhibitory control, enabling participants to allocate cognitive resources more effectively, suppress extraneous interference, and optimize information processing efficiency. Collectively, these processes reduce cognitive load and improve deep learning during academic tasks 56 . An important contribution of this study is the finding that, despite obesity-related physiological challenges, including chronic inflammation 18 and impaired cognitive function 41 , physical activity positively impacted cognitive function, indicating that it retained significant neuroprotective potential in children and adolescents with high BMI. Therefore, extracurricular physical activity should be redefined as an effective cognitive intervention, rather than merely a means of physical facilitation. Accordingly, we suggest that educational and curriculum makers should attach great importance to the fundamental role of physical activity in cognitive development and ensure students with high BMI have opportunities and time to participate in physical activity. Particularly within academically intensive educational environments, reducing physical activity time due to increased emphasis on academic training may be counterproductive. Instead, physical activity should be recognized as a strategic investment in cognitive readiness and academic success. The serial mediating role of psychology and cognition This study demonstrated the hypothesized chain-mediation model, identifying a sequential pathway linking extracurricular physical activities at T1 to mental health at T2, cognitive function at T2, and academic performance at T2. The results showed that, among children and adolescents with high BMI, improvements in psychological state and cognitive function are not independent but constitute an interconnected, continuous mechanism of multi-stage, sequential action. This finding supports the developmental view of mind–body synergy and suggests that emotion regulation efficacy has a prospective impact on higher-order cognitive processes. From the perspective of theoretical mechanisms, the extension-construction theory provides a partial explanation for this chain effect: In conducive settings, physical activity has the potential to stimulate positive emotional experiences, such as pleasure and accomplishment 20 , 21 , expand individual cognitive and behavioral resources 22 , and accumulate long-term psychological capital, such as psychological resilience and social support, to provide the necessary preparation for subsequent cognitive activities 57 . Complementarily, cognitive resource theory proposes that emotional problems such as anxiety and depression may occupy and consume limited cognitive resources, thereby weakening individuals’ ability to process information in learning tasks 27 , 29 . By contrast, physical activity promotes academic performance by improving emotional state, releasing cognitive resources overwhelmed by emotional load, and reallocating them to higher cognitive processes, such as executive function and working memory 23 . The contribution of this study lies in providing the first preliminary longitudinal evidence supporting this statistically coherent serial mediation model in children and adolescents with high BMI. Unlike previous studies that examined only single pathways or cross-sectional associations, this study highlights the leading role of mental health in promoting cognitive function, demonstrating that mental health is not merely correlated with cognitive changes but may act as a facilitator or contextual enabler of cognitive improvement. This finding is particularly applicable to children and adolescents with high BMI, for whom alleviating psychological burden may be essential to unlocking latent cognitive potential. Nevertheless, because mental health and cognitive ability were assessed concurrently at T2, inferences regarding the precise temporal ordering of these mediators should be made cautiously. Future studies with multiple measurement points are needed to disentangle their dynamic interplay. From a practical perspective, this study’s results emphasized that comprehensive intervention strategies must reflect phases and hierarchies. Physical activity design that focuses solely on cognitive challenges, such as performance-oriented, high-intensity training, and ignores psychological experiences, may undermine the effectiveness of interventions due to negative experiences such as frustration and body shame. By contrast, effective programs should prioritize improving participants’ mental health through supportive, inclusive activity designs and gradually integrate high-cognitive-demand tasks to achieve synergistic gains in psychological, cognitive, and academic outcomes. The goal is to build a developmental activity environment that combines psychological empowerment and cognitive development, and to achieve deep integration of physical and mental health with academic development. Study limitations and future research directions Although this study explored the mechanisms by which extracurricular physical activity affects academic performance through multiple psychological and cognitive pathways, using a longitudinal design, it still faces certain limitations that warrant further investigation. First, factors such as learning motivation, family socioeconomic background, and sex may have mixed effects on the relationship examined. Future research may introduce more layers of variables or adopt more rigorous causal inference methods to estimate the net effect of extracurricular physical activities on academic performance more accurately. Second, the measurement of extracurricular physical activity relied mainly on students’ self-assessment questionnaires, which may be subject to social expectation bias and recall error. Moreover, this measure only assessed weekend activity duration and did not capture activity intensity, type, or weekday participation. The context of physical activity (e.g., whether it involves stigma or social support) was also not assessed. In the future, objective devices such as accelerometers and heart rate monitors can be combined to achieve a multimodal evaluation of activity intensity, frequency, and type, enabling more accurate analysis of the correlation between different exercise loads and academic performance. Third, although the mediating roles of mental health and cognitive performance were verified, their measurement should be further refined. For example, mental health can be divided into dimensions, such as emotional symptoms, self-esteem, and social anxiety, and neurophysiological indicators can be used to reveal the mediating mechanisms more deeply. Additionally, although the mental health scale demonstrated good reliability, using it as a single total score may mask the unique effects of its dimensions. Fourth, the concurrent measurement of mediators at T2 limits causal inference from the mediation chain (M1 → M2). Although this study employed a two-wave longitudinal design, the mediators were measured concurrently at T2, which limits the ability to make strict temporal causal inferences. We have refrained from using strong causal language such as “causal chain” and instead describe our model as a "statistical serial model." Multi-wave longitudinal designs (at least three waves) are needed to capture temporal dynamics and reciprocal influences more accurately among these variables. Fifth, sample selection and generalizability. The filtering from 9,449 longitudinal cases to 221 after applying the inclusion criteria (approximately 2.3% of the original baseline cohort) may introduce selection bias. We have enhanced transparency by providing a detailed description of the sample screening process in the Methods section. Future research should consider multiple imputation or more sophisticated statistical models to handle missing data. Additionally, the use of a fixed cutoff of BMI ≥ 24 may result in classification bias. Although we provided justification that this threshold approximates the 95th percentile for Chinese adolescents aged 13–15 years, future studies are encouraged to use age- and sex-standardized BMI z-scores for sensitivity analyses. Sixth, model exploration and intervention prospects. Given the non-significant direct effect of extracurricular physical activity on mental health, we acknowledge the potential limitations of the current model. Future research could explore more complex models, such as examining mental health as a moderator of the relationship between cognitive ability and academic performance. Furthermore, while this study focused on mechanism verification, it did not implement or evaluate specific interventions. Future research should develop structured physical activity programs that integrate cognitive training and psychological support, and assess their efficacy through randomized controlled trials. In summary, the findings highlight the importance of integrating physical activity within psychologically supportive and cognitively enriching educational contexts. Such integrative approaches may offer a more comprehensive pathway to support both academic performance and overall development among children and adolescents with high BMI. Conclusion This longitudinal study among Chinese adolescents with high BMI found that extracurricular physical activity not only directly predicted academic performance one year later but also indirectly influenced academic performance through the serial pathway of "mental health to cognitive ability." Although the direct effect of physical activity on mental health was not significant in our statistical model, the correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between extracurricular physical activity and psychological distress (i.e., physical activity was associated with better mental health). The strong association between mental health and cognitive ability, coupled with cognitive ability’s significant mediating role, suggests the possibility of “mind–body” synergy in promoting academic development. These findings suggest that educators and parents should create inclusive and supportive physical activity environments for adolescents with high BMI, pay attention to their psychological experiences during activities, and intentionally incorporate cognitive challenge elements to maximize the comprehensive educational value of physical activity. Author contributions Authors’ Contributions Zhang. BG (Conceptualization [lead], Writing—original draft [equal], Writing—review & editing [lead]), Qian. XF (Visualization [lead], Writing—review & editing [supporting]). Funding This study was supported by Guangdong Provincial Sports Bureau Science and Technology Innovation Project (GDSS2024N106) and Guangdong Province Characteristic and Innovative Project for Regular Higher Education Institutions (2025wtscx061and2025wtscx103). Data availability The datasets analyzed in this study are available in the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) repository at http://ceps.ruc.edu.cn . 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[ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ] Associated Data This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article. Data Availability Statement The datasets analyzed in this study are available in the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) repository at http://ceps.ruc.edu.cn . Due to confidentiality protections regarding participant information, the raw data are not publicly accessible but can be requested through the CEPS official website upon reasonable justification. 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