Intelligence has always been associated with something we are born with, however, a study carried out by the Department of Physical and Sports Education of the University of Granada (UGR) has revealed that this is not exactly the case, and that this intelligence It could be improved in childhood by exercising regularly.
The research shows that children who do aerobic or strength-type exercise three times a week for at least five months could improve general intelligence, and especially crystallized intelligence, which is the one associated with verbal vocabulary and acquired knowledge in life, both on and off the school campus.
To reach these conclusions, which have been published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the intelligence and cognitive flexibility of 109 children between the ages of 8 and 11 with childhood overweight or obesity who recorded their physical activity levels for 20 weeks were analyzed. and who underwent neuroimaging tests and analysis. The activity group attended at least three 90-minute exercise sessions per week.
Better cognitive flexibility thanks to exercise in childhood
The results in cognitive flexibility – mental ability to adapt to tasks or changes, hold multiple concepts at once or switch attention between different areas – indicated that it was improved after the practice of exercise. In addition, it was also observed that academic performance, especially mathematics and problem solving, were enhanced by this type of activity.
“From here comes a very important message for mothers and fathers: if your children do not have a good academic performance, do not punish them by not going out to play or do physical exercise, or withdraw them from an extra-curricular sports activity, but just the opposite”, explains Francisco Ortega, main author of the study.
“We must try to guarantee a minimum of daily physical exercise, ideally 60 minutes a day of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity”
In addition, he adds that “we must try to guarantee a minimum of daily physical exercise, ideally 60 minutes a day of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, including at least 3 days a week of high-intensity physical activity and that which stimulates muscle and bone strengthening. as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
This discovery could be key to improving not only the cognitive abilities of children, but also to be able to recommend physical exercise in the fight against overweight and obesity in childhood, since in Europe no less than 1 in 3 children present this dangerous condition.
They also warn that it should not be a specific exercise, but that this study was based on group games, which do not require advanced equipment, such as running on an outdoor track and strength work with one’s own body weight and with partners. As for the intensity, this should be relatively high, the average being around 70% of the maximum heart rate of children.
“If we managed to increase the number of hours of physical education to 1 hour a day, that is, 5 hours a week, as is already done in other European countries and is being demanded in Spain, we could improve the physical and mental health of schoolchildren, and as this study shows, their intelligence, cognitive and academic performance”, concludes Ortega.
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