Researchers have found that children ages 4 through 6 years who walk farther than their peers do better on cognitive tests and other measures of brain function. According to an article by Diana Yates in Illinois News Bureau, a study suggests that the link between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive health can be found even earlier than researchers had previously thought.
Studies have found that higher cardiorespiratory fitness in older children and adults is linked to the size and connectivity of brain structures that are important to cognitive control. However, the question has been about the point at which this connection emerges.
Reports show that, “just like older children and adults, preschoolers are failing to meet daily recommended guidelines for physical activity.” “This is worrisome, since brain development of core cognitive control processes begins in early childhood and continues well into early adulthood,” says Naiman Khan, a professor of kinesiology and community health, and a co-leader of the new research on this topic.
Researchers subjected 59 pre-school aged children to several tests to better understand the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and brain health. For example, children walked as far as they could in six minutes, a test that allowed researchers to estimate their cardiorespiratory fitness. They also participated in a computerized task that had them alter their responses depending on whether flowers or hearts appeared on the screen; this helped to measure their mental flexibility.
The result? Statistical analyses showed a relationship between physical fitness and their cognitive abilities and brain function. “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,” said Shelby Keye, co-leader of the research. “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.”
The study may not prove that cardiorespiratory fitness enhances cognitive abilities in young children, but it does add to a wealth of evidence showing that they are linked-even in children as young as four years old!
