Exercise your brain with aerobic activity

The benefits of regular exercise keep growing. Especially for overweight, inactive children, studies from the Georgia Health Sciences University show exercise leads to better thinking, planning and even an understanding of math.

Not surprisingly, the researchers hope that this evidence will help support continued physical education programs at public, or even private, schools. Catherine Davis, clinical health psychologist at GHSU’s Georgia Prevention Institute and author of the study in health Psychology encourages regular, daily, vigorous exercise for children and says this data backs up how necessary it is.

“I hope these findings will help reestablish physical activity’s important place in the schools in helping kids stay physically well and mentally sharp,” Davis said. “For children to reach their potential, they need to be active.”

The children used standardized tests to measure their ability to focus and learn. Some were given MRIs. The MRIs showed increased brain activity in the area associated with complex thinking, decision making and correct social behavior. Davis said this shift to the frontal area is consistent with more rapidly developing cognitive skills.

The children played hard raising their heart rates to 79% of maximum. Intelligence scores increased for those exercising more than 40 minutes a day every day.

“In kids you just don’t know what impact you are going to have when you improve their ability to control their attention, to behave better in school, to make better choices. . . Maybe they will be more likely to stay in school and out of trouble,” Davis concluded.

Source: Medical College of Georgia, ScienceDaily