Exercise may improve attention and language in young people

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   71 studies with 3,544 teenagers and 2,397 young adults. The people were healthy, and each study's average age was between 12 and 30.

2. 02

   What they did

   Some studies had one bout of physical activity, lasting 5 to 60 minutes. Others had programmes of physical activity over several days or more. Each group was compared with rest or with another kind of activity.

3. 03

   What happened

   A single bout improved attention, but not working memory. Programmes improved attention, working memory and school results. Only language clearly improved, but overall grades and maths did not clearly change.

What the review found

1. HelpedFocus

   In 18 comparisons, one bout of exercise helped people pay attention more than rest did.

   Pooled analysis of 0 studies · vs people who rested or did another activity · ⚠ most studies had serious flaws; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. HelpedFocus

   In 11 comparisons, exercise programmes did more for attention than rest did.

   Pooled analysis of 0 studies · vs people who rested · ⚠ most studies had serious flaws; signs that small negative studies went unpublished; mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. HelpedGoals

   In 15 comparisons, exercise helped school results overall, though not grades or maths.

   Pooled analysis of 0 studies · vs groups that did not do the programmes · ⚠ most studies had serious flaws; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source