Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38598150›Full record

SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2024

Physical Activity and Cognitive Performance in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Javier S Morales, Eva Alberquilla Del Río, Pedro L Valenzuela, Óscar Martínez-de-Quel

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  4. Effects of movement behaviors on preschoolers' cognition: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Javier S MoralesMOVE-IT Research Group, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-3255-3246
Eva Alberquilla Del RíoFaculty of Education, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Pedro L Valenzuela *Physical Activity and Health Research Group ('PaHerg'), Research Instituto de Investigación Hospital 12 de Octubre ('imas12'), Centro de Actividades Ambulatorias, 7ª Planta, Bloque D. Av. de Córdoba s/n, 28041, Madrid, Spain. pedrol.valenzuela@uah.es.ORCID 0000-0003-1730-3369
Óscar Martínez-de-Quel *Faculty of Education, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-0992-4149

Funding

Instituto de Salud Carlos III CD21/00138
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundGrowing evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) could improve cognitive performance in youths, but whether these effects occur from early childhood remains unclear.

objectiveTo summarize evidence on the effects of PA interventions on cognitive performance in early childhood.

methodsWe performed a systematic search in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO (from inception to 6 September 2023) for randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of PA interventions (≥ 3 weeks) on cognitive-related outcomes in early childhood (3-6 years). We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis when five or more studies assessed a given outcome. The potential moderating role of participant (e.g., age) and intervention characteristics (e.g., duration, volume, intensity, cognitive engagement) was also assessed.

resultsWe found a total of 24 studies (N = 3483 children) that were deemed to be of overall fair methodological quality. PA interventions were supervised and lasted between 3 and 24 weeks. The most common session duration was 30 min, with a frequency of two sessions per week. Pooled analyses revealed that PA interventions have positive effects on all analysed outcomes, including attention (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18-0.79, p = 0.002), inhibition (SMD = 0.45, 95% CI 0.06-0.84, p = 0.022), working memory (SMD = 0.50, 95% CI 0.18-0.82, p = 0.002), cognitive flexibility (SMD = 0.39, 0.15-0.62, p = 0.002) and vocabulary (SMD = 1.18, 0.19-2.16, p = 0.019). Sensitivity analyses confirmed the benefits in all cases except for inhibition (p = 0.062). No consistent differences were found relating to any moderator variable.

conclusionsAlthough further research is warranted, our findings suggest that PA interventions may improve cognitive performance in early childhood, particularly in the domains of attention, inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility and vocabulary. These findings might support the implementation of PA interventions from early childhood. PROSPERO REGISTRATION: CRD42021249319.

Indexed as

CognitionExerciseRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicAttentionChildChild DevelopmentChild, PreschoolHumans

Identifiers

PMID38598150

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.