Effects of a physical education intervention on cognitive function in young children: randomized controlled pilot study

BMC Pediatrics

John J Reilly⁴  John H McColl²  Christine Watson⁶  Phillip Tomporowski¹  James Y Paton⁴  James ME Boyle³  Abigail Fisher⁵ 

[1] Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, 115 Ramsey Center, Athens, GA 30602, USA;Department of Statistics, University of Glasgow, University Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK;School of Psychological Sciences & Health, University of Strathclyde, George Street, Glasgow, G1 1QE, UK;Unit of Lifecourse Nutrition and Health, University of Glasgow, Yorkhill Hospitals, Dalnair Street, Glasgow, G3 8SJ, UK;Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19, Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK;Education Department, Glasgow City Council, 25 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, G1 1HL, UK

关键词: EXERCISE;    PHYSICAL ACTIVITY;    CHILDREN;    EXECUTIVE FUNCTION;    COGNITION;   

Others  :  1172112
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2431-11-97

 received in 2011-02-24, accepted in 2011-10-28,  发布年份 2011

【 摘 要 】

Background

Randomized controlled trials (RCT) are required to test relationships between physical activity and cognition in children, but these must be informed by exploratory studies. This study aimed to inform future RCT by: conducting practical utility and reliability studies to identify appropriate cognitive outcome measures; piloting an RCT of a 10 week physical education (PE) intervention which involved 2 hours per week of aerobically intense PE compared to 2 hours of standard PE (control).

Methods

64 healthy children (mean age 6.2 yrs SD 0.3; 33 boys) recruited from 6 primary schools. Outcome measures were the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB), the Attention Network Test (ANT), the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) and the short form of the Connor's Parent Rating Scale (CPRS:S). Physical activity was measured habitually and during PE sessions using the Actigraph accelerometer.

Results

Test- retest intraclass correlations from CANTAB Spatial Span (r 0.51) and Spatial Working Memory Errors (0.59) and ANT Reaction Time (0.37) and ANT Accuracy (0.60) were significant, but low. Physical activity was significantly higher during intervention vs. control PE sessions (p < 0.0001). There were no significant differences between intervention and control group changes in CAS scores. Differences between intervention and control groups favoring the intervention were observed for CANTAB Spatial Span, CANTAB Spatial Working Memory Errors, and ANT Accuracy.

Conclusions

The present study has identified practical and age-appropriate cognitive and behavioral outcome measures for future RCT, and identified that schools are willing to increase PE time.

Trial registration number

ISRCTN70853932 (http://www.controlled-trials.com webcite)

【 授权许可】

   
2011 Fisher et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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