Researchers at the University of Illinois studied the physical activity level of 222 seven- to nine-year-olds, taking a look at how getting affected their ability to think.

In the study, half of the young participants were enrolled in the after-school fitness program “FIT Kids,” while the others were forced onto a waiting list for the duration of the study. Both groups underwent cognitive testing at the start of the nine-month fitness period, but only the “FIT Kids” group went to the after-school program. The instruction consisted of doing warm-up tasks like jumping jacks and push-ups, learning about healthy living like basic nutrition and how to play various sports, and then participating in active games for a total of two hours a day.

Turns out, the more active children were able to pay attention, curtail distraction and alternate between tasks better than the kids who were less active—a 10 percent increase versus just a five percent boost in the control group. In addition, the “FIT Kids” also improved their physical fitness level by six percent, as opposed to just one percent in the control group. The more classes the kids attended, the higher the improvement of their scores on cognitive tests.

As someone who starts to go slightly bananas when I don’t start moving my body after a few hours at a desk—I feel your pain, schoolchildren of the world—these study results are not at all surprising. However, especially when you’re under the gun at the office, it can be easy to let exercise hit the wayside. So remember, this is not at all helping your cause. If you hit a mental snag during the workday, have one of those days where you can’t stop daydreaming, or are literally so harried moving back and forth from deadline to deadline? MOVE. Take a walk. Do some yoga. Just, move it. (Science says so.)

[LA Times]


Image Credit: Zurijeta