Effects of a structured fundamental motor skills intervention on executive function in second grade students: a randomized controlled trial

Given the relative scarcity of randomized controlled trial evidence regarding systematic fundamental motor skills interventions for lower primary school students, this study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a 10-week structured fundamental motor skills intervention on the executive function and its subcomponents in second-grade students. Between September and November 2023, a randomized controlled trial was conducted. Eighty-nine second grade students were assigned to either an experimental group (n = 44) or a control group (n = 45). The experimental group received a 10-week fundamental motor skills intervention, consisting of three sessions per week, while the control group maintained their regular physical activities. The Chinese version of the Executive Function Scale was used for assessment before and after the intervention. After the intervention, students in the experimental group demonstrated significantly better performance than those in the control group in Sustained Attention, Working Memory, Planning and Initiation, Self-Regulation, Inhibitory Control, Emotion Regulation, and the total executive function score (F-values = 12.852, 8.633, 8.027, 12.786, 5.925, 4.681, 4.529, respectively; all P < 0.05). Within the experimental group, post-intervention scores were significantly higher than pre-intervention scores for Sustained Attention, Working Memory, Theory of Mind, Planning and Initiation, Self-Regulation, Inhibitory Control, Emotion Regulation, and the total executive function score (F-values = 6.122, 6.507, 14.248, 10.787, 9.974, 6.029, 6.242, 4.601, respectively; all P < 0.05). This study confirms that a structured fundamental motor skills intervention can effectively promote the development of multiple core executive functions in second-grade students. These findings provide empirical support for the theory of embodied cognition and suggest that integrating a systematic fundamental motor skills curriculum into school physical education represents a viable pathway for enhancing children's cognitive health.