CHILDHOOD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND BRAIN HEALTH

Corinne Cannavale, B.S.

Nutrition, Wellness, and the Brain

Week 4

Systematic

Reviews

Randomized Controlled

Trials

Non-Randomized

Controlled Trials

Observational Studies with

Comparison Groups

Case Series and Case Reports

Correlational Analyses

CORRELATION VS. CAUSATION

30

30.5

31

31.5

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32.5

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33.5

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5000

10000

15000

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25000

30000

35000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Cheese consumption causes more women

with PhDs?

Women awarded PhDs Cheese Consumption per capita

https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

COGNITIVE FUNCTION

• How well our brain

can hold onto

information

• Multiple types

• Short-term

• Long-term

• How well can our

brain accomplish

multiple tasks

• How well can our

brain ignore irrelevant

information and focus

on important

information

Memory AttentionMental Flexibility

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Activities in which our bodies are

up, moving, and expending energy

Time which our bodies are sitting,

reclined, or lying down and expending

very little energy

SEDENTARY TIME

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY & SEDENTARY TIME

Children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.

CDC’S GUIDELINES FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN

Aerobic: Most of the 60 minutes or

more per day should be either

moderate- or vigorous-intensity

aerobic physical activity and should

include vigorous-intensity physical

activity on at least 3 days a week.

Muscle-strengthening: As part of their

60 minutes or more of daily physical

activity, children and adolescents should

include muscle-strengthening physical

activity on at least 3 days a week.

Bone-strengthening: As part of

their 60 minutes or more of daily

physical activity, children and

adolescents should include bone-

strengthening physical activity on at

least 3 days a week.

https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/children/what_counts.htm

FITNESS & BRAIN

VO2 Max Assessment

How aerobically fit is a participant?

Associated

with

Memory1,2,3

Attention3

Mental Flexibility3

SEDENTARY TIME & BRAIN4

THE FITKIDS TRIAL5

221 children

Control

9 months no after-school fitness program

Intervention

9 months after-school fitness program

109 children

112 children

THE FITKIDS TRIAL5

• Children who were enrolled in the after

school program had larger changes in the

amount of attentional resources their

brain had to put into completing the task,

designated by a larger red area on the

scalp

THE FITKIDS TRIAL5

• As of May 2019…

• Only 8 states required daily recess in elementary schools

• 90% of elementary students, but only 35% of 6th grade+

participated in daily recess

• There is evidence which suggests that fitness and school

recess/PE daily can improve children’s attention

• The data implicate that recess may be beneficial for school-aged

children

SCHOOL RECESS & PE

www.schoolspringboard.org

KEY POINTS

1. Aerobic fitness is beneficial for healthy brain functioning in childhood

2. Higher levels of sedentary time and lower levels of activity may impact.

academic skills

3. School recess programs may help improve attention in children, specifically

during the school day

ACTIVITY?

• I think we have time but I am drawing a blank on an idea for an activity, let me

know if you guys have any ideas.

1. Hassevoort, K. M., Khazoum, S. E., Walker, J. A., Barnett, S. M., Raine, L. B., Hammond, B. R., … Cohen, N. J. (2017). Macular

Carotenoids, Aerobic Fitness, and Central Adiposity Are Associated Differentially with Hippocampal-Dependent Relational

Memory in Preadolescent Children. Journal of Pediatrics, 183, 108-114.e1.

2. Baym CL, Khan NA, Pence A, Raine LB, Hillman CH, Cohen NJ. Aerobic Fitness Predicts Relational Memory but Not Item

Memory Performance in Healthy Young Adults. J Cogn Neurosci 2014;26:2645–2652.

3. Hillman CH, Khan NA, Kao S-C. The Relationship of Health Behaviors to Childhood Cognition and Brain Health. Ann

Nutr Metab 2015;66:1–4.

4. Eero A. Haapala, JuusoVäistö, Niina Lintu, Kate Westgate, Ulf Ekelund, Anna-Maija Poikkeus, Soren Brage, Timo A. Lakka.

Physical activity and sedentary time in relation to academic achievement in children, Journal of Science and Medicine in

Sport, Volume 20, Issue 6, 2017, Pages 583-589, ISSN 1440-2440, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2016.11.003.

5. Hillman CH, Pontifex MB, Castelli DM, et al. Effects of the FITKids Randomized controlled trial on executive control and

brain function. Pediatrics 2014;134:e1063–e1071.

REFERENCES

QUESTIONS?