The relation between children's aerobic fitness and executive functions: A systematic review

Waelvelde, Hilde Van; Wyngaert, Karsten Vanden; Mariën, Tineke; Baeyens, Dieter

doi:10.1002/icd.2163

Cited by 20 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…38,39 Thus, increasing the level of children' CRF, MF, and S-AF, and not focusing in only one fitness component, could play an essential role related to an enhanced global cognition performance, which consequently may help to improve both academic achievement and brain health in children and adolescents. [1][2][3]7,11,40 Intervention studies are needed to corroborate the last mentioned.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex, school administration, peak height velocity (PHV), and body mass index (BMI) were used as covariates in all models. These covariates were chosen by previous evidence indicating its influence on cognitive performance, 1–3,6,7 and also based on our own exploratory analysis (using a stepwise regression approach) in this sample. Sex was included due to diverse differences between boys and girls on the main topic of this study 24 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Overall, systematic reviews have shown a strong relationship between physical fitness components such as cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness (MF), and speed-agility fitness (S-AF) with cognitive function, academic achievement, and brain health in children and adolescents. [2][3][4] Indeed, having a high-fitness level may enhance both children's behavioral and biological aspects, transferring these benefits to the cognitive and educational field. 5 Cardiorespiratory fitness has been the most studied component of physical fitness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, there is strong evidence displaying that children with a higher CRF level present greater levels of attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, and in turn, higher academic achievement. [1][2][3] Interestingly, even though some evidence exist on the association between MF and S-AF with academic achievement, 6 their relation to diverse cognitive domains is less consistent or unexplored. 7,8 At this moment and based on the current literature, it is possible to speculate that CRF, SA-F, and MF could be related to cognitive domains into a differentiated extent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cardiorespiratory fitness has been the most studied component of physical fitness. To date, there is strong evidence displaying that children with a higher CRF level present greater levels of attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, and in turn, higher academic achievement 1–3 . Interestingly, even though some evidence exist on the association between MF and S‐AF with academic achievement, 6 their relation to diverse cognitive domains is less consistent or unexplored 7,8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Physical fitness and its association with cognitive performance in Chilean schoolchildren: The Cogni‐Action Project

Solis‐Urra

Sanchez-Martinez

Olivares-Arancibia

et al. 2021

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to establish the association and differences in a diversity of cognitive domains according to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness (MF), and speed-agility fitness (S-AF) level in a large sample of Chilean schoolchildren. 1171 Chilean schoolchildren aged 10-14 years participated. CRF, MF, and S-AF were assessed through the ALPHA-fitness test battery. Cognition was evaluated through the NeuroCognitive Performance Test, which involved eight tests related to four main domains: cognitive flexibility (CF), working memory (WM), inhibitory control (IC), and intelligence (IN). Both global (multivariate) and individual (univariate) analyses were performed to determine the differences in cognitive functioning according to low-, middle-, and high-fitness level. The global analyses showed a significant main effect for CRF, F (16,940) = 3.08, p ≤ .001 and MF groups, F (16,953) = 2.30, p = .002, but not for S-AF, F (16,948) = 1.37, p = .105. CRF shows a significant main effect in seven of eight tests, involving CF, WM, IC, and IN domains, whereas MF shows a significant main effect in five of eight tests without association with IN. SA-F shows a significant main effect only with IC. Statistical differences were found between the low-and middle/high-fitness groups but not between the middle-and high-fitness groups. At a global level, both CRF and MF seem to be associated with a higher cognitive profile in scholars; however, at an individual level, all fitness components show

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Physical fitness and its association with cognitive performance in Chilean schoolchildren: The Cogni‐Action Project

Solis‐Urra

Sanchez-Martinez

Olivares-Arancibia

et al. 2021

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Aerobic fitness and fine motor skills are related to switching and updating in typically developing children

Klupp

Grob

Möhring

2022

Psychological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Movement is essential for everyday life and closely related to cognitive skills. The aim of the current research was to investigate whether different aspects of physical activity, i.e., aerobic fitness and motor skills, contribute above and beyond each other to the variance in children’s executive functioning. Children aged 8–13 years (N = 129, 58 females, Mage = 10.7 years, SDage = 1.6 years) participated in the current cross-sectional study. Aerobic fitness was assessed by the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER). Motor skills were assessed using the standardized Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2nd edition (M-ABC-2), including fine motor skills, balance skills, and object control. Components of executive functions (inhibition, switching, updating) were assessed using the following tasks: an animal Stroop task, a local–global task, and a 2n-back task. Hierarchical regressions were conducted to analyze the relative importance of aerobic fitness and motor skills for children’s executive functions. Results indicated that aerobic fitness and fine motor skills were significantly related to switching and updating, whereas relations to inhibition were non-significant. Furthermore, it was found that fine motor skills explained additional variance above aerobic fitness in switching and updating whereas aerobic fitness did not add additional variance above fine motor skills in switching and updating. Balance and object control skills were not related to the three core executive functions. Results support the notion that aerobic fitness and fine motor skills are differently related to executive functions and highlight the importance of considering multiple components of constructs in future research.

show abstract

Associations Between Motor Competence and Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Bao,

Wade,

Leahy

et al. 2024

Sports Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Motor competence and executive functions co-develop throughout childhood and adolescence, and there is emerging evidence that improvements in motor competence may have cognitive benefits in these populations. There is a need to provide a quantitative synthesis of the cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental studies that have examined the association between motor competence and executive functions in school-aged youth. Objectives The primary aim of our systematic review was to synthesise evidence of the association between motor competence and executive functions in school-aged children and adolescents (5–18 years). Our secondary aim was to examine key moderators of this association. Methods We searched the PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Ovid MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus and EMBASE databases from inception up to 27 June 2023. We included cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental studies that assessed the association between motor competence (e.g., general motor competence, locomotor skills, object control skills and stability skills) and executive functions (e.g., general executive functions, inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility) in children and adolescents aged 5–18 years. Results In total, 12,117 records were screened for eligibility, and 44 studies were included. From the 44 included studies, we meta-analysed 37 studies with 251 effect sizes using a structural equation modelling approach in the statistical program R. We found a small positive association (r = 0.18, [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.13–0.22]) between motor competence and executive functions. The positive associations were observed in cross-sectional (r = 0.17, [95% CI 0.13–0.22]), longitudinal (r = 0.15, [95% CI 0.03–0.28]) and experimental studies (r = 0.25, [95% CI 0.01–0.45]). We also found that general motor competence (r = 0.25, [95% CI 0.18–0.33]), locomotor (r = 0.15, [95% CI 0.09–0.21]), object control (r = 0.14, [95% CI 0.08–0.20]) and stability (r = 0.14, [95% CI 0.08–0.20]) skills were associated with executive functions. We did not find any moderating effects for participants’ age on the associations between motor competence and executive functions. Conclusions Our findings suggest a small-to-moderate positive association between motor competence and executive functions in children and adolescents. The small number of experimental studies included in this review support the assertion that interventions targeting children’s motor competence may be a promising strategy to improve their executive functions; however, more research is needed to confirm these findings. Future studies should explore the underlying mechanisms linking motor competence and executive functions as their comprehension may be used to optimise future intervention design and delivery. PROSPERO Registration CRD42021285134.

show abstract

The relation between children's aerobic fitness and executive functions: A systematic review

Abstract: A beneficial effect of physical activity on cognitive functioning is supposed, although to a certain extent, literature remains inconsistent. Furthermore, the mediating effect of aerobic fitness on this association remains unclear,

Cited by 20 publications

References 52 publications

Physical fitness and its association with cognitive performance in Chilean schoolchildren: The Cogni‐Action Project

Physical fitness and its association with cognitive performance in Chilean schoolchildren: The Cogni‐Action Project

Aerobic fitness and fine motor skills are related to switching and updating in typically developing children

Associations Between Motor Competence and Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About