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Good grades do not only come by studying hard, but also by having a healthy heart and lungs. 

According to new research presented at the American Psychological Association's 120th annual convention, having a healthy heart and lungs may be one of the most important factors for middle school students to make good grades in math and reading. 

Study co-author Trent Petrie said cardiorespiratory fitness was the only factor that was consistently found to have an impact on both boys' and girls' grades on reading and math tests. 

He said the findings provide more evidence that schools need to re-examine any policies that have limited students' involvement in physical education classes.

Five Texas middle schools and 1,211 students, of whom 54 percent were female with an average age of about 12 were used in the study.

Overall, the group was 57 percent white. Among the boys, the breakdown was 57.2 percent white, 24.2 percent Mexican-American, 9.1 percent African American, 1.1 percent Asian-American and 1.2 percent American Indian. For the girls, 58.6 percent were white, 23.4 percent were Mexican-American, 9.2 percent were African-American, 2.3 percent Asian-American and 0.6 percent were American Indian.

For up to five months before the students were to take annual standardized reading and math tests, they were surveyed about their level of physical activity, and how they viewed their academic ability, self-esteem and social support. The school district provided information on the students' socioeconomic status and reading and math scores at the end of the year.

To determine students' physical fitness, the researchers worked with physical education teachers to administer a fitness assessment program widely used in U.S. schools. The program includes a variety of tests to assess aerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition. 

The study also examined several other potential influences, including self-esteem and social support and researchers It also took into account the students' socioeconomic status and their self-reported academic ability.

Help from family and friends to solve problems or deal with emotions had a positive impact on boys' reading scores. Having a larger body mass index was related to better reading scores for girls. For boys and girls, cardiorespiratory fitness was the only factor related to their performance on the math tests. 

"The finding that a larger body mass index for girls was related to better performance on the reading exam may seem counterintuitive, however past studies have found being overweight was not as important for understanding boys and girls performances on tests as was their level of physical fitness," Petrie said.

"Because this is a longitudinal study, these variables can now be considered risk factors in relation to middle school students' performance on math and reading examinations," Petrie said. "And that is essential to developing effective programs to support academic success."