Association between physical activity and inhibitory control in children
Evelyn Watson, Paul W. Burgess, Cian Xu, H. V. N. Boulton, Shamina Mohd Habib, Isabel Metcalf, Peter J. Savage, Mike Loosemore, Mark Hamer, Flaminia Ronca
Abstract
Evidence supports a positive association between physical activity and executive function in children. How physical activity performed in different contexts associates with inhibitory control remains unclear. This cross-sectional study examined associations between inhibitory control and four measures of physical activity (activity during PE, breaktime, outside school and in sport) in 340 primary school children (8.6 ± 1.6 years old, n = 197 female). In models adjusted for sex, age, adiposity and SES, greater activity during breaktime was associated with fewer commission errors in the sustained attention (β =−0.10, 95%CI: −0.19, −2.95e-03, p = .04) and inhibition tasks (β = −0.06, 95%CI: −0.11, −9.33e-03, p = .02). These results suggest that unsupervised active play at school is associated with higher levels of inhibitory control.