Regular physical activity seems to enhance cognition in children who need it most

July 15, 2020

Science Daily/University of Tsukuba

Researchers re-analyzed data from three experiments that tested whether physical activity interventions lead to improved cognitive skills in children. They found that (1) the benefits of regular exercise on cognition were greater in children who have poor cognitive performance before the intervention and (2) spending time on physical activity did not hinder cognition in children who already had good cognitive performance before the intervention.

A common school-age stereotype is that smart kids are unathletic. However, as a recent study lead by Associate Professor Keita Kamijo at the University of Tsukuba and Assistant Professor Toru Ishihara at Kobe University shows, physical activity is linked to better cognitive ability, which is in turn related to academic performance in school. Understanding the effects of physical activity on cognition has been difficult for several reasons. "Previous studies looked at the issue too broadly," explains Professor Kamijo, "When we broke down the data, we were able to see that physical activity helps children the most if they start out with poor executive function."

Executive functions refer to three types of cognitive skills. The first is the ability to suppress impulses and inhibit reflex-like behaviors or habits. To assess this ability, children were asked to indicate the color in which words like "red" and "blue" were displayed on a computer screen. This is easy when the words and colors match ("red" displayed in red font), but often requires inhibition of a reflex response when they don't ("red" displayed in blue font). The second skill is the ability to hold information in working memory and process it. This was evaluated by testing how well children could remember strings of letters that vary in length. The third cognitive skill is mental flexibility. This was measured by asking children to frequently switch the rules for categorizing colored circles and squares from shape-based to color-based.

Professor Kamijo and Professor Ishihara, and their colleagues re-analyzed the data from previous experiments in which executive function was assessed in children before and after several months of daily intervention with physical activity, such as aerobic activities, ball games, and playing tag. They looked at a factor that was missed in the initial analyses. That is, they considered whether the effectiveness of the intervention depended on the initial baseline scores.

The researchers found that cognitive skills, which have been shown to closely associate with academic performance, improved most in children whose skills were initially poor. The team also found that increased time spent doing regular physical activity did not negatively affect cognitive function in children who started out with better cognitive functions.

The finding that daily physical activity can improve executive function in children who might need it the most has some practical implications. "Because the cognitive functions evaluated in our study are related to academic performance," says Professor Kamijo, "we can say that daily physical activity is critical for school-aged children. Our findings can help educational institutions design appropriate systems for maximizing the effects of physical activity and exercise."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715111421.htm

Sticking to sports can help kids adjust

June 4, 2019

Science Daily/University of Montreal

By participating in organized physical activity from the age of 6, children will have less risk of emotional difficulties by the time they're 12, a new study finds.

Thinking of getting your child to take up a sport that involves a coach or instructor? Good news: a new study finds that children who engage in organized physical activity at a young age are less likely to have emotional difficulties by the time they turn 12.

"The elementary school years are a critical time in child development," said Frédéric N. Brière, an Université de Montréal professor of psycho-education who led the study, published this month in Pediatric Research.

"And every parent wants to raise a well-adjusted child."

Besides keeping children from being sedentary, physical activities such as structured sports have the potential to be enriching both physically and mentally, Brière believes, something parents seem to know instinctively.

The study tested that intuitive logic with a large representative population of typically developing Canadian children.

"We followed a birth cohort over time to examine whether consistent participation in organized sport from ages 6 to 10 would minimize risks associated with emotional distress, anxiety, shyness, social withdrawal at age 12," said Brière. "Our goal was to test this question as critically as possible by eliminating pre-existing child or family conditions that could offer an alternative explanation."

To do this, Brière and his team at UdeM's School of Psycho-Education examined data from a cohort of children born in 1997 or 1998 who are part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development coordinated by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec. From ages 6 to 10, mothers reported whether their child participated in organized physical activity. At age 12, teachers reported on the child's levels of emotional distress, anxiety, shyness, and social withdrawal at school.

"The results revealed that children who participated consistently from ages 6 to 10 showed fewer instances of those factors at age 12 than their counterparts who did not engage in physical activity in a consistent way," said Brière. "We found these benefits above and beyond pre-existing individual and family characteristics."

His conclusion: "Getting kids actively involved in organized sport seems to promote global development. This involvement appears to be good on a socio-emotional level and not just because of physical benefits. Being less emotionally distressed at the juncture between elementary and high school is a priceless benefit for children, as they are about to enter a much larger universe with bigger academic challenges. This research supports current parental guidelines promoting children's involvement in physical activity."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190604084842.htm