Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Motor Skills in Relation to Cognition and Academic Performance in Children – A Review

Abstract

Different elements of physical fitness in children have shown a declining trend during the past few decades. Cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills have been associated with cognition, but the magnitude of this association remains unknown. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the relationship of cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills with cognitive functions and academic performance in children up to 13 years of age. Cross-sectional studies suggest that children with higher cardiorespiratory fitness have more efficient cognitive processing at the neuroelectric level, as well as larger hippocampal and basal ganglia volumes, compared to children with lower cardiorespiratory fitness. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness has been associated with better inhibitory control in tasks requiring rigorous attention allocation. Better motor skills have been related to more efficient cognitive functions including inhibitory control and working memory. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness and better motor skills have also been associated with better academic performance. Furthermore, none of the studies on cardiorespiratory fitness have revealed independent associations with cognitive functions by controlling for motor skills. Studies concerning the relationship between motor skills and cognitive functions also did not consider cardiorespiratory fitness in the analyses. The results of this review suggest that high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills may be beneficial for cognitive development and academic performance but the evidence relies mainly on cross-sectional studies.

Fundamental Movement Skills: An Important Focus

“…Importantly, we see FMS as consisting of one of several components that need to be addressed within the physical literacy construct and one that is most effective, as previously mentioned, when it is integrated with multiple health behaviors and outcomes (Robinson et al, 2015). Being competent in FMS, is associated (and predictive) with not only physical activity (Holfelder & Schott, 2014;Lubans et al, 2010), but also fitness (Cattuzzo et al 2016;Lubans et al, 2010), healthy weight status (Lubans et al, 2010) and cognitive and academic outcomes (Haapala 2013). Promoting FMS is integral to a holistic view of development.…”

Health Promotion in Primary Schools- Evaluation of Side-Effects on Cognitive and Academic Performance in a Randomized Trial

“…Moreover, a more intensive intervention or specific components are presumably necessary. Recent literature on the association between physical activity and cognition suggests that especially endurance exercises or cognitive-demanding activities are quite promising [26][27][28]. The integration of additional physical education or afterschool training in school-based health promotion is one possibility.…”

“…We hypothesized that school based health promotion had no negative impact. We assumed that the promotion of physical activity via psychosocial and neurophysiological pathways [21,[26][27][28], the promotion of healthy breakfast and water drinking via a better supply with energy and nutrients and a better hydration [24,29], the reduction of TV viewing via more real-life experiences and neurophysiological pathways [30,31] and the improved health status via a reduction of school absenteeism affected children's cognitive and academic performance rather in a positive way.…”

Análisis de la influencia de la actividad física sobre el rendimiento académico en la educación secundaria obligatoria Un estudio de investigación-acción en el IES Violant de Casalduch de Benicasim

“…Entre los múltiples beneficios derivados de la actividad física, su práctica regular durante la adolescencia se asocia con un menor riesgo de padecer enfermedades cardiovasculares en la edad adulta y una menor incidencia de sobrepeso y obesidad (Singh et al 2012). Además, según varios estudios existe la evidencia de que la práctica regular de actividad física mejora las funciones cerebrales, potencia los procesos cognitivos, aumenta la memoria a corto plazo y mejora la capacidad de concentración debido en gran medida al incremento del riego sanguíneo al cerebro y al aumento del número de conexiones sinápticas (Hillman et al 2008;Haapala 2013). En consecuencia, la actividad física es un elemento favorecedor para la creación de hábitos saludables que se asentarán en la edad adulta y parece que puede llegar a potenciar la capacidad cognitiva de los adolescentes, jugando un papel relevante en su rendimiento académico.…”

“…Tradicionalmente ha existido la creencia de que el tiempo dedicado a actividades no académicas, como puede ser el deporte, estaba inversamente relacionado con el rendimiento académico (Lindner 2002). A pesar de existir resultados contradictorios en la literatura científica, son varios los estudios que afirman que la práctica regular de actividad física está asociada con un mayor rendimiento académico o al menos no supone un descenso de dicho rendimiento (Singh et al 2012;Haapala 2013;Lees & Hopkings 2013;Ardoy et al 2014;Booth et al 2014;Morales et al 2011).…”