Children´s Cognitive performance with different cardiorespiratory fitness
Cognition, academic performance, cerebral development, physical fitness,
INTRODUCTION: In recent years, the relationship between physical activity, fitness, cognitive function and academic performance in children is receiving considerable attention. The benefits of an active childhood lifestyle have implications for public health and education. METHODS: Forty-eight children with a mean age of 10.5 ± 0.7 years participated in the study, among whom 25 (52.1%) were boys and 23 (47.9%) were girls. In this research, the reaction time (TR) and number of errors (NE) were analyzed in the cognitive tests food (food) and Toys (toy). School performance test (TDE) was used to assess children's performance in writing, reading and arithmetic. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using the indirect Léger test. The normal distribution was verified using the Shapiro-Wilk test. After performing a description of the data, Pearson and Spearman's correlation coefficients. In the significant correlations (p ≤ 0.05), the predictive power (R2) of the independent variables over the dependent variables (cognitive variables) was determined by linear regression analysis. RESULTS: It was evidenced that the group with the highest oxygen consumption had a longer reaction time (RT) and a lower performance in the school test (TDE) compared to the other groups in the cognitive test of food. In addition, we also found a significant correlation in relation to the number of errors (food) and the reaction time (food) with the children's fat percentage. CONCLUSION: The study's findings suggest that a greater cardiorespiratory fitness influences a lower cognitive performance in this audience.