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This study tested the association between aerobic fitness and executive function and the impact of enhanced, cognitively challenging physical activity on executive function in overweight and lean children. Seventy children aged 9-10 years were assigned to either a 6-month enhanced physical education programme including cognitively demanding (open skill) activities or curricular physical education only. Pre- and post-intervention tests assessed aerobic capacity (Leger test) and two components of executive function: inhibition and working memory updating (random number generation task). Indices of inhibition and memory updating were compared in higher- and lower-fit children and intervention effects were evaluated as a function of physical activity programme (enhanced vs. curricular) and weight status (lean vs. overweight). Results showed better inhibition in higher- than lower-fit children, extending the existing evidence of the association between aerobic fitness and executive function to new aspects of children's inhibitory ability. Overweight children had more pronounced pre- to post-intervention improvements in inhibition than lean children only if involved in enhanced physical education. Such intervention effects were not mediated by aerobic fitness gains. Therefore, the cognitive and social interaction challenges inherent in open skill tasks, even though embedded in a low-dose physical activity programme, may represent an effective means to promote cognitive efficiency, especially in overweight children.

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Background: Research on visual attention control of older road cyclists, who represent a subgroup of traffic participants, is still scarce and studies on their attentional performance while cycling are completely lacking. Objective: The present study assessed whether attention control performance of older individuals with a history of participation in road cycling is affected by concomitant cycling exercise. Acute exercise effects were also analyzed in co-aged aerobically trained and sedentary noncyclists to assess whether the acute exercise-cognition relationship is moderated by individual differences induced by chronic sport practice versus sedentary lifestyle. Methods: Sixteen 60- to 80-year-old cyclists and 32 age-matched noncyclists (16 endurance athletes and 16 sedentary individuals) performed a go/no-go reaction time task in which visual attention was cued by means of spatial cues of different sizes followed by compound stimuli with local and global target features. Results: Older cyclists showed commonalities with and differences from other aerobically trained athletes. Both trained groups, when compared to sedentary individuals, showed shorter reaction time (RT) during physical exercise and a smaller RT disadvantage for unexpected local targets at short stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA). This expectancy-driven RT effect was stable across SOAs only in the case of cyclists. Conclusions: Results suggest that chronic long-term aerobic training may lead to favorable conditions for the occurrence of a facilitation effect during acute exercise and for a more efficient use of available resources on attentional tasks involving executive control. These results highlight the importance of considering the effects of aerobic exercise for supporting safe on-road behavior.

Objective: In many countries, physical education (PE) is taught by classroom teachers (generalists) during the formative years of elementary school. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical and psychological outcomes of multi-sports PE taught by qualified PE teachers (specialists) and how they contribute to children’s physical and mental health development. Design: Experimental study with non-random assignment. Setting: Four elementary schools in Italy (Rome) stratified by urban district. Method: One hundred and twenty-five upper elementary school children (10-11 years) were assigned to an eight month multi-sports or traditional PE programme taught by a PE specialist or a generalist, respectively. Pre- and post-intervention tests assessed children’s fitness (aerobic fitness, abdominal strength and endurance, and hamstring flexibility) and coordination (kinesthetic discrimination ability, response orientation ability), goal (task and ego) orientation, perceived physical ability and social self-efficacy. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance were performed on physical and psychological test measures. Results: The results demonstrated that the multi-sports approach to PE induced more pronounced improvements in aerobic fitness and kinesthetic discrimination ability, as well as small but significant improvements in task orientation, ego orientation and social self-efficacy, when compared to traditional PE taught by a generalist. Conclusions: A multi-sports approach to elementary school PE contributes to the development of children’s physical fitness and goal orientations, which support engagement in physical activity. These findings highlight the role of qualified PE specialists and multi-sport, skill-based curricula to obtain positive physical and psychological outcomes that may facilitate the development of a healthy child.