Effects of home-based exergaming on preschool children’s cognition, sedentary behavior, and physical activity: A randomized crossover trial

Purpose

Exergaming’s potential to promote young children’s cognition and health remains largely unknown. This randomized crossover trial was to evaluate the preliminary effects of an educational exergaming program (LeapTV™) versus usual practice on preschool children’s executive function (EF), sedentary behavior (SB), and physical activity (PA).

Methods

A total of 34 preschool children (17 girls, M_age = 4.72 ± 0.73 years; BMI-z = 0.39 ± 1.08) were randomized to either exergaming (30 min/day, 5 days/week) or usual practice condition for 12 weeks, followed by a 1-week washout period (week 13) and a second 12-week crossover phase. The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) test was used to assess EF; SB, light PA, and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) were measured by ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers. All participants underwent identical assessments at baseline, week 13, and 26.

Results

After a 12-week intervention, both conditions displayed significant improvements in EF. Compared with usual practice, yet, exergaming increased children’s EF by 1.9 DCCS unit (95 % confidence interval [95 % CI], −0.34 to 4.04; d = 0.22). Despite no other statistical differences were noted, compared with usual practice, exergaming decreased SB by 22.1 min (95 % CI, −25.22 to 18.98; d = 0.29) and light PA by 9.56 min (95 % CI, −7.09 to −12.02; d = 0.22), and increased MVPA by 4.05 min (95 % CI, 2.35–5.74; d = 0.20).

Conclusion

This study demonstrates the LeapTV™ would promote meaningful improvements in preschool children’s EF and PA behaviors. Despite the promising efficacy, larger trials are needed to confirm our findings.