Acute Physical Activity Supports Inhibitory Control In Children: A Randomised Cross-over Trial.

Inhibitory control develops throughout childhood and is of lifelong value. It is therefore essential that children are provided with environments supporting its development. Physical activity is proposed as a malleable factor supporting inhibitory control. However, there are inconsistencies in the literature regarding the acute effects of physical activity on inhibition in preadolescent children. PURPOSE: This study contributes a naturalistic investigation with real-world validity and objective measures of physical activity. METHODS: 55 primary school children (9 ± 1 years old, 40 % female) participated in a pre-existing school-based extracurricular group physical activity session and a sedentary group poster-making control condition in a randomised, cross-over manner. Both conditions lasted approximately 30 minutes and took place at the same time of day. Participants completed computerised cognitive tasks immediately before and after both conditions. Time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during each condition was measured by accelerometry. RESULTS: After physical activity children had faster reaction times (β = -190, 95%CI: -325.85, -53.17) and made more commission errors (β = 1.07, 95%CI: 0.13, 2.01) in the simple reaction time task, but made fewer errors (β = -4.94, 95%CI: -9.46, -0.34) in the inhibition task compared to the control condition. A supplementary analysis was run on a reduced sample whose time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was >29% during the physical activity condition and < 16% for the control. Results showed faster reaction times (β = -230, 95%CI: -443.19, -16.80) in the simple reaction time task and fewer commission errors (β = -5.95, 95%CI: -11.50, -0.36) in the inhibition task following physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that an acute bout of physical activity may facilitate inhibitory control in preadolescent children, with optimal effects when participants achieve higher intensity physical activity during the intervention. This has implications for real-world physical activity interventions. It may not be sufficient to provide children with opportunities for physical activity, but crucial that children engage with them. What this engagement looks like, how to drive and monitor it are important questions for future investigation. Supported by: Funding was received from Greenhouse Sports (registered charity number: 1098744). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.