Associations of physical activity and gross motor skills with executive function in preschool children from low‐income South African settings

Abstract

Executive function is foundational for cognitive development. Previous research has shown both gross motor skills and physical activity to be related to executive function. However, evidence for these relationships in the preschool years, as well as in low‐ and middle‐income countries is lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationships between components of executive function (inhibition, shifting and working memory) and gross motor skills (locomotor skills and object control skills) in a sample of preschool children from urban and rural low‐income settings in South Africa. Results revealed that inhibition and working memory, but not shifting, were associated with gross motor skills. More specifically: inhibition was associated with both locomotor [β = 0.20, p = 0.047] and object control skills [β = 0.24, p = 0.024], whereas working memory was only associated with locomotor skills [β = 0.21, p = 0.039]. Physical activity was not associated with inhibition and shifting but was negatively associated with working memory. These results elaborate a growing evidence base linking executive function and gross motor skills in the early years, and it is the first to look at specific associations of locomotor and object control skills with executive function in the South African context (a low‐ and middle‐income country).

Proximal and distal predictors of self-regulatory growth in children aged 4 to 7 years

“…Pre-school gross motor abilities were also significantly, albeit modestly, associated with children's self-regulation growth. This is consistent with suggestions of common mechanisms (i.e., executive functions) that are implicated in both self-regulation and motor learning (36)(37)(38), such that both show common areas of neural activation, are impaired after damage to neural regions for the other, and are often both impaired in cognitive disorders, such as ADHD and dyslexia. Indeed, tasks that are motor-demanding for young children, such as navigating uneven surfaces and/or obstacles, are more cognitively demanding and lead to more cognitive errors than less cognitively demanding motor tasks (39).…”

The South African 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Birth to 5 Years: An Integration of Physical Activity, Sitting Behavior, Screen Time, and Sleep

“…22 Gross motor skills were found to be good amongst 0-5 year old children in SA. [23][24][25][26][27] In the study with preschool-aged children from a low-income, rural setting, better gross motor skills (as measured by the Test of Gross Motor Development-Version 2, TGMD-2 28 ) were associated with objectively measured MVPA and vigorous-intensity physical activity. This study also found that directly observed MVPA during preschool time was positively associated with gross motor skills.…”

Studying Executive Function Skills in Young Children in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries: Progress and Directions

“…For example, we do not know how young children’s exposure to multilingualism in low‐ and middle‐income countries relates to EFs, despite the reported benefits of bilingualism for EFs in high‐income countries (Thomas‐Sunesson, Hakuta, & Bialystok, ). In addition, young children in many low‐ and middle‐income countries walk long distances to school, but it remains unclear whether this extensive physical activity can be leveraged to promote, rather than hinder, EFs by making it more cognitively challenging (Cook et al, ; Diamond & Ling, ). Furthermore, young children in low‐ and middle‐income countries spend considerable time in informal activities with peers, such as running, clapping, rhyming, and playing ball games.…”