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. 2015 Oct 28:9:577.
doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00577. eCollection 2015.

Impacts of coordinative training on normal weight and overweight/obese children's attentional performance

Maria Chiara Gallotta  1 , Gian Pietro Emerenziani  1 , Sara Iazzoni  1 , Marco Meucci  2 , Carlo Baldari  1 , Laura Guidetti  1
Affiliations

Impacts of coordinative training on normal weight and overweight/obese children's attentional performance

Maria Chiara Gallotta et al. Front Hum Neurosci. .

Abstract

This study investigated the efficacy of a physical activity (PA) program to improve the attention span in normal weight vs. overweight/obese children. The study was designed as a cluster-randomized controlled intervention. One hundred fifty-seven normal weight and overweight/obese primary school children were randomly divided in three cohorts: Traditional PA, Coordinative PA and a Control group (not attending any PA). Before and after 5 months of intervention, children were administered the d2-R test of attention. Results showed that participants' attentional performances were significantly affected by Time (pre vs. post; P < 0.01) and by Time × Group interaction (traditional vs. coordinative vs. control; P < 0.001), revealing significant different effects of intervention/exercise modality on children's attentional performance, independently of their weight status. These data suggest that a 5-month school-based PA intervention can improve the cognitive performance in children. Further, the Coordinative PA intervention resulted in the most significant improvement in children's attention.

Keywords: attention; concentration; physical exercise; school context; weight status.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of variation (Δ%) of the total number of items processed (± SEM). *P < 0.05 Traditional PA Group vs. Coordinative PA Group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of variation (Δ%) of the percentage of errors (% errors) (± SEM). *P < 0.05 Coordinative PA Group vs. Traditional PA Group; §P < 0.05 Control Group vs. Coordinative PA Group vs. Traditional PA Group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of variation (Δ%) of concentration performance (± SEM). *P < 0.05 Coordinative PA Group vs. Traditional PA Group vs. Control Group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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