Background/Purpose: Physical activity (PA) and cardiovascular fitness (PF) have been shown to be positively related to children's cognitive functioning. There is, however, a need to further explore these relationships. Therefore, this study's purpose was to investigate potential relationships between: (a) a 10-minute classroom PA break and selective attention, and (b) PF and selective attention, within a sample of 4th grade students.
Method: A randomized, controlled, within-subject cross-over design was employed; participants (N=81; female=40; age=9.4„b.49 years; 78% Caucasian; from two schools in the Southwestern US) received both the control (10-minute reading session) and treatment (10-minute PA break) conditions in a randomly assigned order. PA (steps & MVPA) during both conditions was monitored via accelerometers. Selective attention was assessed at pretest and after the control/treatment sessions with the d2 test of attention (Brickenkamp & Zillmer, 1998). PF was assessed during Physical Education using Fitnessgram (PACER; push-ups; curl-ups; sit-and-reach; trunk lift; BMI).
Analysis/Results: Independent t-tests revealed no significant group differences at pre-test. A linear mixed models analysis indicated no sequence effect but a significant treatment effect (Concentration Performance: F(1,80)=88.9, p<.001, £b2=.53). Descriptive statistics indicated that during the PA break students accumulated a mean of 941.64 steps (SD=134.82) and 4:23 minutes of MVPA (SD=0:52). Regression analyses indicated that muscular fitness scores predicted a small proportion of the variance in Concentration Performance (R2=.25, p=.02) post-test scores.
Conclusions: Findings indicate that classroom PA can improve students' selective attention and significantly contribute to increasing their PA levels. Also, findings suggest that muscular fitness might be associated with improved cognitive functioning.
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