Executive functions in childhood benefit from moderate-to-vigorous intensity and aerobic physical activity interventions¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr3·q3·i1small
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i1 Meta-regression showed a small significant positive effect on executive functions when PA was of moderate to vigorous intensity (g = 0.21), and a small effect for aerobic interventions (g = 0.16). → Vasilopoulos 2023
Evidence¶
Vasilopoulos 2023¶
Vasilopoulos, F., Jeffrey, H., Wu, Y., & Dumontheil, I. (2023). Multi-Level Meta-Analysis of Physical Activity Interventions During Childhood: Effects of Physical Activity on Cognition and Academic Achievement. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09760-2
q3 · i1 · quant-synthesis · r3
Exploratory three-level meta-regression on executive function outcomes reported in the Results moderator section, testing intervention characteristics as moderators. It identified effects for "moderate to vigorous intensity" (g = 0.21) and for "aerobic interventions" (g = 0.16), while no specific effects were found for EF sub-domains.
"A small significant positive effect with narrow 95% CI and low to moderate heterogeneity were identified for EFs when PA was of moderate to vigorous intensity (g = 0.21 (95% CI: 0.07–0.34), n = 63 effect sizes), and a small effect was also specifically observed for aerobic interventions (g = 0.16 (95% CI: 0.03–0.28), n = 33)"
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Executive Function — outcome: instruction changes it
Related Claims¶
- Moderate-to-vigorous intensity active breaks are associated with slightly greater working-memory improvements than moderate intensity, in exploratory meta-regression — related
- Daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with better executive functioning in boys with ADHD — related
- Exercise intensity differentially moderates acute exercise cognitive benefits, with moderate intensity favoring executive functions and high intensity favoring information processing — related
- Physical activity interventions in childhood show no overall benefit for executive functions or academic achievement — reports the opposite
- Aerobic exercise improves executive functioning, most notably inhibitory control, in typically developing children, though evidence is tentative and one week-long study found no main effect — related
- Mathematics outcomes benefit from PA with academic instruction of 6–10-week duration at moderate or moderate-to-vigorous intensity, and language outcomes from enriched PA programmes — related
- Physical activity interventions in childhood improve creativity with a moderate summary effect, based on low-certainty evidence — related
- Physical activity interventions in childhood improve fluid intelligence with a small summary effect, based on moderate-certainty evidence — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
mvpa-aerobic-pa-benefits-executive-functions |
title |
Executive functions in childhood benefit from moderate-to-vigorous intensity and aerobic physical activity interventions |
description |
Executive functions in childhood benefit from moderate-to-vigorous intensity and aerobic physical activity interventions |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2023 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-22 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — vasilopoulos-2023 |
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