A new study of Kansas elementary and middle school students makes a link between physical fitness and better performance on math and reading exams.

The research was conducted through schools participating in the Kansas Fitness Information Tracking. The study followed the fitness of 13,000 students in the 2011-12 school year. It is part of the Healthy Schools Project funded by the Kansas Health Foundation.

The results released Thursday found that students who met one or none of the fitness standards scored 50.4 percent and 41.8 percent above the proficiency standards for math and reading.

For students who met the mark for all five fitness tests, scores jumped to 73.5 percent above the standard for reading and 70.3 percent above for math.