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Exercise and Kids: Preparing the brain to learn

2008 February 14
by Tim

This one hit my mailbox this morning: Exercise Seen as Priming Pump for Students’ Academic Strides

Seven or eight years ago, studies offered mixed results on the question of whether exercise can boost brain function in children and adolescents. Experts are beginning to contend, however, that the case is getting stronger.

“There’s sort of no question about it now,” said Dr. John J. Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “The exercise itself doesn’t make you smarter, but it puts the brain of the learners in the optimal position for them to learn.”…

I see this in myself. When I’m exercising, I find I focus better. I haven’t studied it, but I probably ought to – I have a hobby that requires intense concentration and decision-making, and I saw immediate improvements in the past two weeks. Thinking back two years to when I was exercising every day, I was participating in this hobby successfully with some of the best participants in the world.

A couple of you know my hobby. I prefer not to get into THAT over here – this is my diet and exercise blog.

Reading on:

With his university colleague Darla M. Castelli, Mr. Hillman assessed the physical-fitness levels of 239 3rd and 5th graders from four Illinois elementary schools. Their findings, published last year in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, show that children who got good marks on two measures of physical fitness—those that gauge aerobic fitness and body-mass index—tended also to have higher scores on state exams in reading and mathematics. That relationship also held true regardless of children’s gender or socieconomic differences….

…Another study published last year, involving 163 overweight children in Augusta, Ga., found, in addition, that the cognitive and academic benefits of exercise seemed to increase with the size of the dose.

For that study, a cross-disciplinary research team randomly assigned children to one of three groups. One group received 20 minutes of physical activity every day after school. Another group got a 40-minute daily workout, and the third group got no special exercise sessions.

After 14 weeks, the children who made the greatest improvement, as measured by both a standardized academic test and a test that measured their level of executive function—thinking processes, in other words, that involve planning, organizing, abstract thought, or self-control—were those who spent 40 minutes a day playing tag and taking part in other active games designed by the researchers. The cognitive and academic gains for the 20-minutes-a-day group were half as large.

“I was frankly bowled over by the results,” said Catherine L. Davis, the lead author of the study, a preliminary version of which was published in December in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. “It’s like a staircase, which is considered strong evidence for causation,” added Ms. Davis, who is an associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

So, they’re saying that exercise gets the brain ready to learn. What they didn’t say was that exercise made you smarter. Just like buying a pair of dumbbells doesn’t give you big biceps. It just enables those muscles to becoming stronger through consistent work. Sounds like the same is true for the brain – exercise prepares the brain to process information better.

I’m no scientist, but I think they’re on the right track.

View Comments leave one →
  1. Michael permalink
    February 15, 2008

    i believe aromatherapy could help with your kids’s brain growth

    you should check out more on it

  2. February 17, 2008

    I agree that I don’t see how exercise could NOT help children and how their brains develop and function. Personally I think it is safe to assume exercise would help anyone’s brain function better whether you are young or old?

  3. Den permalink
    February 17, 2008

    Children are too sensitve, Don’t let your exercses to make them worst. It’s very important to know if your children able to do these exercises without any consequences

  4. July 30, 2008

    I agree that I don’t see how exercise could NOT help children and how their brains develop and function. Personally I think it is safe to assume exercise would help anyone’s brain function better whether you are young or old?

  5. August 20, 2008

    Not only do they focus better, Kids who are active will:

    * have stronger muscles and bones
    * have a leaner body because exercise helps control body fat
    * be less likely to become overweight
    * decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes
    * possibly lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels
    * have a better outlook on life

  6. September 1, 2008

    Thank you very much… I really appreciate your interest in giving the right information for children health.

  7. September 7, 2008

    Getting children involved in sports is a great way to keep them healthy.

  8. September 10, 2008

    Hi,

    Exercise is the functional style for reducing stress and make your body strength.For kids it is necessary to practice regular exercise for developing their body and mind.

    Regards
    Gopal

  9. Cara permalink
    September 12, 2008

    It’s great to teach your kids to be active!

  10. Florida Cancer Hospital permalink
    November 24, 2008

    Really good article for kids. I don’t know exercise’s effect on the kids brain. I like this post.

  11. Anonymous permalink
    October 3, 2009

    This is an amazing article about children being able to get there brain working better by exercising and if we teach kids that while they are young they will be healthier when they get bigger. It is a lot harder to lose weight when you get older.

    Legal Steroids

  12. October 20, 2009

    I myself think this is a great article for kids to read. I think that it is great for kids to have time to play outside. I think that it is great that they get exercise while they are having fun and playing outside.

    Anabolic Steroids

  13. December 5, 2009

    Relaxing music could also be incentive to brain activity. As well as aromatheraphy, like someone above mentioned. The sooner you give your kids incentive to use their brain a lot, the better. It’s like signing them into a soccer team to make them get in good physical shape.

  14. December 5, 2009

    Relaxing music could also be incentive to brain activity. As well as aromatheraphy, like someone above mentioned. The sooner you give your kids incentive to use their brain a lot, the better. It's like signing them into a soccer team to make them get in good physical shape.

  15. December 5, 2009

    Relaxing music could also be incentive to brain activity. As well as aromatheraphy, like someone above mentioned. The sooner you give your kids incentive to use their brain a lot, the better. It's like signing them into a soccer team to make them get in good physical shape.

  16. December 28, 2009

    Its really a very nice idea. It attracts me a lot. I’ll try to follow these ideas. Thanks for sharing such a nice post.

  17. December 28, 2009

    Its really a very nice idea. It attracts me a lot. I'll try to follow these ideas. Thanks for sharing such a nice post.

  18. April 5, 2010

    I agree that I don’t see how exercise could not help children. I think exercise would help anyone’s brain function, young or old.

  19. quebecsupplement permalink
    April 5, 2010

    I agree that I don’t see how exercise could not help children. I think exercise would help anyone’s brain function, young or old.

  20. August 2, 2010

    Very interesting topic, can you post some further information on this subject. I love to learn more about it

  21. August 2, 2010

    Very interesting topic, can you post some further information on this subject. I love to learn more about it

  22. August 6, 2010

    Всем привет!

    Недавно перед мной встала задача, куда деть накопишиеся европоддоны, или еще их называют Паллеты,
    Поддоны, Европаллеты Размеры 800*1200, 1000*1200- Это Тара Пром назначения.
    Немного предистории.
    Сам я тружусь кладовщиком на складе. Нам приходит много продукции на Европоддонах,
    товар продаем а поддоны остаются, у нас встал вопрос куда их девать.
    Раньше мы их выкидывали.
    Потом мне подсказали, что за поддоны можно получить деньги.
    Начал звонить по фирмам везде были цены маленькие,
    потом приятели мне подсказали, что в Челябинске есть такая Контора “Уралсклад“,
    около 10 лет на Рынке Промышленной Тары с хорошей репутацией.
    Я нашел их сайт в интернет – http://www.uralsklad.ru и позвонил по тел. +7(351) 233-07-14.
    Буквально через час подъехал их представитель, Авто с Логотипом “Поддоны Челябинск“.
    Цены закупочные оказались самые высокие в г. Челябинске.
    Все цивилизовано грузчики загрузили Паллеты ешё и лом поддонов купили, расчитались на месте наличными.
    Про другие фирмы я узнавал либо Цены низкие, либо Бракуют много, да и денег от них не дождешься.

    Так что если у вас завалялись европоддоны, не торопитесь их выбрасывать, лучше обменяйте их на деньги.

  23. August 27, 2010

    I’m not finished read this yet, but it’s so fabulous ‘n I’ll back again when I was finished my job :D

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