Study: Exercise improves kids' brains
New research has found that exercise may benefit children not only physically, but mentally as well.
A study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, found that aerobic exercise has "a positive role in brain and cognitive health of children." Children who are in better shape, the study found, have more healthy white matter in their brains than children in worse shape. White matter is linked to memory and attention skills, which are critical in child development.
The study, led by Laura Chaddock-Heyman, is the first study to determine a link between physical activity and white matter in children, Time reports. "It's possible that white matter differences as a function of fitness are driving the cognitive differences we see in the brain," Chaddock-Heyman said in a statement. However, her team is still looking into the connection between white matter and things like school grades or IQ. The research team is conducting a new five-year trial tracking white matter and physical exercise in children.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Whatever the outcome of the new research, Chaddock-Heyman hopes the study will inspire parents and caregivers to encourage children to exercise more. "More schools are contributing to our more sedentary lifestyle by eliminating or reducing physical activity during the school day, and we know that aerobic fitness is related to the size of brain structures as well as their function," she said in a statement. "We are hoping our work encourages more support of physically active lifestyles."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
7 drinks for every winter need possible
The Week Recommends Including a variety of base spirits and a range of temperatures
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
'We have made it a crime for most refugees to want the American dream'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Was the Azerbaijan Airlines plane shot down?
Today's Big Question Multiple sources claim Russian anti-aircraft missile damaged passenger jet, leading to Christmas Day crash that killed at least 38
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US won its war on 'murder hornets,' officials say
Speed Read The announcement comes five years after the hornets were first spotted in the US
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular stories
Speed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Detailed map of fly's brain holds clues to human mind
Speed Read This remarkable fruit fly brain analysis will aid in future human brain research
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
Speed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published