ReviewPreventive medicine reports2016
The relationship between physical activity and diet and young children's cognitive development: A systematic review.
Review in Preventive medicine reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06376864 (A Pilot Study Investigating the Effects of a Classroom-based Physical Activity Intervention on Executive Function, Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in 8-12-year-old Children), which is not on this map. Cited by 68 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Pilot Study Investigating the Effects of a Classroom-based Physical Activity Intervention on Executive Function, Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in 8-12-year-old Children
Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 181 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of the Relation between Complementary Feeding and Children's Development.Current nutrition reports · 2025Pooled it
- Healthy eating interventions delivered in early childhood education and care settings for improving the diet of children aged six months to six years.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Policy, system, and environmental interventions addressing obesity and diet-related outcomes in early childhood education settings: A systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2023Pooled it
- Physical Activity, Fitness, School Readiness, and Cognition in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review.Journal of physical activity & health · 2021Pooled it
- Physical activity and prospective associations with indicators of health and development in children aged <5 years: a systematic review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2021Pooled it
- Social marketing approaches to nutrition and physical activity interventions in early care and education centres: a systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2017Pooled it
- The Effectiveness of the Foodbot Factory Mobile Serious Game on Increasing Nutrition Knowledge in Children.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Associations between Food Group Intake, Cognition, and Academic Achievement in Elementary Schoolchildren.Nutrients · 2019Trial
- Using a social marketing approach to develop Healthy Me, Healthy We: a nutrition and physical activity intervention in early care and education.Translational behavioral medicine · 2019Trial
- Impact of scheduling multiple outdoor free-play periods in childcare on child moderate-to-vigorous physical activity: a cluster randomised trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2018Trial
- Article
- Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water: next steps for child obesity prevention in early life.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Role of Nutrition in Cognitive Development and Academic Performance During Adolescence: A Comprehensive Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Cardiovascular Disease Continuum: Problems of Studying the Progression During the Follow-Up of the Pathologies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Food policy, practice and provision in UK early childhood education and care: a scoping review.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Perinatal and Childhood Risk Factors of Adverse Early Childhood Developmental Outcomes: A Systematic Review Using a Socioecological Model.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Language Subtypes in Young Autistic Children and the Influence of Parental Education, Educational Environment and Diet.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Laying the Groundwork for Health: Eating Behaviour and Physical Activity in Preschoolers in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Maternal Knowledge and Practices on Complementary Feeding and Associated Factors in Sedal District, Western Ethiopia.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Unraveling the Connections: Eating Issues, Microbiome, and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Nutrients · 2025Review
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 9 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveGiven the high prevalence of suboptimal nutrition and low activity levels in children, we systematically reviewed the literature on the relationship between physical activity and dietary patterns and cognitive development in early childhood (six months to five years).
methodsIn February 2016, we conducted two different searches of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and ERIC. Each search included either physical activity (including gross motor skills) or diet terms, and neurocognitive development outcome terms. Included studies were in English, published since 2005, and of any study design in which the physical activity or diet measure occurred prior to age five.
resultsFor physical activity, twelve studies (5 cross-sectional, 3 longitudinal and 4 experimental) were included. Eleven studies reported evidence suggesting that physical activity or gross motor skills are related to cognition or learning. Both acute bouts and longer term exposures showed benefit. For diet, eight studies were included consisting of secondary analyses from longitudinal cohort studies. A healthier dietary pattern was associated with better cognitive outcomes in all studies, although some of the reported associations were weak and the measures used varied across the studies.
conclusionsPhysical activity and healthy diets in early childhood are associated with better cognitive outcomes in young children. The paucity of literature and the variability in the type and quality of measures used highlight the need for more rigorous research. Given that the early childhood years are critical for both obesity prevention and neurocognitive development, evidence that the same healthy behaviors could promote both should inform future interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.