Preschoolers Do Better Cognitively When Fit
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
February 26, 2021
Researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that 4-6-year-old children who walk further than their peers during a timed test -- a method used to estimate cardiorespiratory health -- also do better on cognitive tests and other measures of brain function. The study suggests that the link between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive health is evident even earlier in life than previously appreciated. Yet, as previous reports suggest, preschoolers are failing to meet daily recommended guidelines for physical activity.
When measuring how far a group of 59 preschool-aged children walked in six minutes, researchers were able to estimate their cardiorespiratory fitness. Then, an early cognitive and academic development test gave researchers a measure of each child's intellectual abilities, and a computerized "flanker" task measured how well they were able to focus on the important part of an image while ignoring distracting information.
Statistical analyses revealed a relationship between the children's physical fitness and their cognitive abilities and brain function, the researchers said.
"Preschool children with higher estimated cardiorespiratory fitness had higher scores on academic ability tasks related to general intellectual abilities as well as their use of expressive language," doctoral student Shelby Keye, who led the new research with Naiman Khan, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign said. "They had better performance on computerized tasks requiring attention and multitasking skills, and they showed the potential for faster processing speeds and greater resource allocation in the brain when completing these computerized tasks."
While the study does not prove that cardiorespiratory fitness enhances cognitive abilities in young children, it adds to a growing body of evidence that the two are closely linked -- even in children as young as four years old, the researchers said.
In other words, if you want to help your young
nieces and nephews perform better academically and in general, help them
stay or get fit. Go for walks, hike, play games like tag, or play a
sports activity outside together as often as you can.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau.
"Preschoolers with higher cardiorespiratory fitness do better on cognitive tests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 February 2021.