School achievement in the Brazilian rural Amazon: An analysis of the interaction among motor, cognitive and environmental factors

A cross-sectional study of 106 students (7–12 years) from a rural school in the Brazilian Amazon investigated the interaction among motor, cognitive and environmental factors on school achievement using network analysis. Students with good school performance were significantly older and showed superior global physical fitness, motor coordination (balance and lower limbs) and alternating selective attention. Furthermore, students residing more than 1000 m from the school showed significantly higher overall school achievement. Network analysis identified motor coordination as an important central node for the group with insufficient achievement, suggesting motor interventions can be effective strategies for this population. For high-achieving students, age emerged as the most central variable. The findings underscore that academic success is a complex system, with different central factors depending on the student's performance level.