SynthesisJournal of physical activity & health2021
Physical Activity, Fitness, School Readiness, and Cognition in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Journal of physical activity & health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review and Evidence Gap Map Evaluation of Rhythmic and/or Complex Movement Interventions and Child Cognitive Outcomes.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of movement behaviors on preschoolers' cognition: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- Longitudinal associations between preschoolers' 24-h movement behaviors and development of self-regulation, executive function, vocabulary, and numeracy.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- Teaching healthy lifestyle behaviors based on philosophical thinking to preschool children: a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- A comparative study of four physical education curricula on the developmental behavior of Chinese preschool children aged 4 to 6 years and its correlation with balance ability.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Association Between Health-Related Physical Fitness and Cognition in Preschoolers: MOVI-HIIT Study.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2026Observational
- Associations Between Body Mass Index, Physical Activity, Perceived School Competence, and Academic Performance in Portuguese Elementary Students.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Relations between 24-h movement behaviors, declarative memory, and hippocampal volume in early childhood.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effects of body mass index and extracurricular sports activities on physical fitness in school-aged children.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Cluster analysis of motor coordination and health-related fitness in preschool children: population classification and variable contribution based on principal component analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Train and Reprogram Your Brain: Effects of Physical Exercise at Different Stages of Life on Brain Functions Saved in Epigenetic Modifications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Association between Gross Motor Competence and Physical Fitness in Chilean Children Aged 4 to 6 Years.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Correlations between Physical Activity and Social Health, Moral Development and Physical Fitness among Middle School Students.International journal of school health · 2024Article
- The effects of the 'active before school' programme on the academic skills of 8-9-year-old children: a physically and cognitively engaging intervention.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Substantial parallel mediation contribution by cognitive domains in the relationship between adolescents' physical fitness and academic achievements: the Cogni-Action Project.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Physical Activity Is Associated with Physical Fitness and Executive Function among School Children in the Jiangxi Region of China.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Relationships between Math Skills, Motor Skills, Physical Activity, and Obesity in Typically Developing Preschool Children.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Associations of activity, sedentary, and sleep behaviors with cognitive and social-emotional health in early childhood.Journal of activity, sedentary and sleep behaviors · 2023Article
- Influence of naps on sedentary time and physical activity in early childhood.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- The Multivariate Physical Activity Signatures Associated With Self-Regulation, Executive Function, and Early Academic Learning in 3-5-Year-Old Children.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly childhood is an important age for brain and cognitive development. Given the support of physical activity and fitness on cognition and academic performance in older children, more research has emerged recently focusing on younger children. In this systematic review, the authors review the relations between physical activity/fitness and academic-related (ie, school readiness and cognitive) outcomes in early childhood.
methodsA search was conducted from PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ERIC databases, and reference lists for articles that had participants aged less than 6 years were written in English, and were in peer-reviewed journals. Articles were excluded if the design was a case study or case series report. The Grading Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework was followed to assess the quality of evidence by study design.
resultsSixty-eight articles reporting on 72 studies (29 observational and 43 experimental) were included. The majority of study effects were mixed, and the quality of evidence varied from very low to low.
conclusionsA clear consensus about the role of physical activity and fitness on academic-related outcomes in early childhood is still lacking given the high heterogeneity in methodological approaches and overall effects. Additional high-quality studies are needed to determine what specific dosages of physical activity are impactful at this age.
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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.