Cyber biking at school boosts children’s classroom behavior

Riding a stationary bike at school while viewing a computerized screen featuring a video game or a simulated trail ride appears to help children with behavioral problems stay calmer in the classroom, according to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study was published in the February 2017 issue of Pediatrics.

In the study, conducted at the Judge Baker Children’s Center’s Manville School in Boston, children did the aerobic exercise twice a week for 20 minutes in gym class.

“There was about a 70% drop in disruptive behaviors in the classroom,” senior author Kirsten Davison, Donald and Sue Pritzker Associate Professor of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School, said in a CBS News interview that aired on WBZ-TV on January 28-29, 2017.

April Bowling, doctoral candidate in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School, was lead author of the study.

Watch the CBS News video: Cyber Cycling May Help With Kids’ Behavior Problems