Cognitively engaging physical activity has an immediate impact on preschool children's executive function

Abstract

Executive function (EF) skills are important for a wide-range of outcomes, including academic achievement and socio-emotional development. Previous research with adolescents and adults provides support for a connection between physical activity and improvements in EF, though less is known about the impact of physical activity on EF for preschool children. Additionally, not all physical activity has been equally supportive of EF development. Utilizing a pretest-posttest intervention with 111 children (M age=58.5 months, 53 % female, 91 % White, 59 % Latino), the current study examined the immediate impact of cognitively engaging physical activity on three components of preschool children's EF skills. As expected, the cognitively engaging physical activity condition resulted in the greatest immediate improvements in performance on EF tasks, though in some circumstances, physical activity alone and cognitive engagement alone were also effective. In addition to confirming the hypothesis, this study also adds to the existing literature in that the intervention was effective for preschool children and the effects were found immediately after a short intervention. The findings here are especially promising given that children benefited from the intervention after only twelve minutes of activity, thereby providing further justification for increasing daily opportunities for physical activity and exercise play for preschool children.