Physical Fitness, Self Control and ADHD

The Journal of Psychophysiology investigated the relationship between physical fitness and resting-state electroencephalographic (EEG) oscillations in 28 children (23 boys and 5 girls) with ADHD.   In addition, each child completed a battery of physical fitness assessments including flexibility, muscular endurance, power, and agility tests.

The results indicated the following:

1.  ADHD children with higher power fitness exhibited a smaller theta/alpha ratio than those with lower power fitness.

The researchers concluded that power fitness may be associated with improved attentional self-control in children with ADHD.

Power is the ability to exert a maximal amount of force in as short of a time as possible.  Here is a previous blog post entitled 5 Physical Activities to Increase Power In Children  at http://yourtherapysource.com/blog1/2014/04/24/5-physical-activities-to-increase-power-in-children/.

High Fast Skips are a great exercise to increase power.  This exercise is available in the 25+ Bilateral Coordination Exercises download.

Reference:  Huang, C. et al. Physical Fitness and Resting EEG in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Psychophysiology. Volume 29, Number 1 / 2015. DOI 10.1027/0269-8803/a000131

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Extra Physical Activity and Academic Achievement

Research on the impact of physical activity intervention program on academic achievement was published in the Journal of School Health. The study provided 408 twelve year olds with an additional two hours per week of extra play and motion activities. The control groups were three different schools (matched for male/female ratio, average level of income, education and unemployment of parents) who did not receive the extra two hours of physical activity per week.

Academic achievement was tested four years prior to the study and five years later. The results indicated the following:

1. Higher proportions of students in the intervention school achieved the national goals in all 3 subjects compared with the reference schools after initiation of the intervention program.

2. The odds for achieving the national learning goals in the intervention school doubled.

3. The odds for achieving the national learning goals did not change or decreased in the control schools.

The researchers concluded that promoting physical activity in school by means of a curriculum-based intervention program may improve children's educational outcome.

Reference: Lina B. Käll PhD, Michael Nilsson MD, PhD, andThomas Lindén MD, PhD. The Impact of a Physical Activity Intervention Program on Academic Achievement in a Swedish Elementary School Setting. Journal of School Health Volume 84, Issue 8, pages 473–480, August 2014. DOI: 10.1111/josh.12179



Need some easy ideas to squeeze in physical activity and play time?  Check out Roll Some Fun at http://yourtherapysource.com/rollsomefun.html

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Physical Fitness and White-Matter Tracts in Children

Frontiers in Neuroscience published research looking at the diffusion MRIs of 24 nine and 10-year-old children to determine an association between aerobic fitness and the brain. The study showed that children who are more aerobically fit have more fibrous and compact white-matter tracts in their brains than children who are less fit.

More specifically, the researchers found that significant fitness-related differences in the integrity of several white-matter tracts in the brain, including the corpus callosum (connects the brain’s left and right hemispheres), the superior longitudinal fasciculus (pair of structures that connect the frontal and parietal lobes) and the superior corona radiata (connect the cerebral cortex to the brain stem). These white matters tracts all play a role in attention and memory.

Reference: Chaddock-Haymen, L. Et al. Aerobic fitness is associated with greater white matter integrity in children. Front. Hum. Neurosci., 19 August 2014 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00584

Check out yoga for children to increase physical fitness in children at http://yourtherapysource.com/yoga.html

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Freebie from the Summer Fitness Challenge

Download this freebie from the Summer Fitness Challenge to get kids moving this summer!  You can download it at http://yourtherapysource.com/summerfitnessfreebie.html

Physical Fitness, Academics and Middle School

Physical Fitness, Academics and Middle School

Research was published on 838 middle school students who were assessed with the FITNESSGRAM and the Illinois Standardized Assessment Tests. The results indicated the following:

"1. Boys in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) for aerobic fitness or muscular endurance were 2.5 to 3 times more likely to pass their math or reading exams.
2. Girls in the HFZ for aerobic fitness were approximately 2 to 4 times as likely to meet or exceed reading and math test standards."

The researchers concluded that aerobic fitness and muscular endurance positively affect academic performance.

Reference: Bass RW et al. Physical fitness and academic performance in middle-school students. Acta Paediatr. 2013 Apr 28. doi: 10.1111/apa.12278. [Epub ahead of print]