The Ulster Teachers Union (UTU) says it welcomes research which shows children’s fitness levels may have an impact on how well they do in exams.
Researchers from the University of Granada in Spain found aerobic capacity and motor ability was associated with a greater volume of gray matter.
Those who exercised for at least three nights a week had more grey matter in areas of the brain linked to reading and verbal communication.
The fitter the youngster became the greater the change, they found.
UTU general secretary Avril Hall Callaghan says the findings are exciting.
They come as hundreds of girls from the North also took part in a separate study looking at why their gender does not exercise as much as boys.
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