The relationship between sports practice and cognitive aspects in young schoolchildren: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Children and adolescents have been targets of physical inactivity due to the convenience provided by the advancement of technology, thus leading to not only physical but also cognitive deficits. Thus, the practice of sport has been a strategy to reverse the situation and form a healthy citizen in its entirety, as it has shown benefits in physical, social and executive functions. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare cognitive performance between individuals who practiced sports and those who didn't in order to verify possible differences. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study with a sample of seventy-five (75) young people of both sexes aged between 10 and 14 years divided into two groups: Group I (Non-Sport) made up of students who only took part in Physical Education at school and Group II (Sport) made up of individuals who, in addition to Physical Education, practiced sports. Skeletal age was used to estimate the maturational stage of the subjects, and the "Go/No-Go" cognitive test was used to check the Inhibitory Control of the research participants. Results: Group II showed better cognitive performance by obtaining higher results in the Go/No-Go test, however there was no correlation between skeletal age and cognitive aspects. Conclusion: Young people who play sport do better in cognitive tests than those who don't, regardless of their stage of maturity. This suggests that practicing sport is beneficial for concentration, attention span and inhibition of stimuli in young people.