Play Smart, Be Smart? Effect of Cognitively Engaging Physical Activity Interventions on Executive Function among Children 4~12 Years Old: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to collect a compendium of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) exploring the effects of cognitively engaging physical activity (PA) interventions (basketball and floorball) on various domain-specific executive functions (EFs) in children aged 4 to 12. Following the PRISMA principle, 11 articles (total sample size: 2053) were analyzed for effect size and moderating impact with Stata 13.0 software. Overall EFs (SMD = 0.21, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.32, p p p p = 0.033). The review suggests that despite the moderate effect sizes, cognitively engaging PA may be an effective approach to improving EFs in children aged 4 to 12, especially updating and shifting.

Keywords

• physical activity
• cognitively engagement
• executive function
• children