New Research Shows Physical Activity Is a ‘Medicine’ Against ADHD

Gym programs – and the underfunding of them – may be as important as math or reading to learning. A new study shows that addressing the ADHD epidemic may require a dose of physical activity, so kids can refocus and learn effectively in a classroom.

Study, after study have given enough reason to think there may be a causal effect in addressing ADHD symptoms with physical activity. Researchers from another study published in the medical journal Pediatrics said they were able to “demonstrate a causal effect of a physical program on executive control, and provide support for physical activity for improving childhood cognition and brain health.”

The image below shows the results from a group of 221 kids between the ages of eight and nine who were randomly selected to participate in the two-hour FITKids after school PE program, and those who didn’t. The program lasted for nine months and the differences in cognitive health, focus, and physical well-being were noticeable.

These electrophysiological plots represent the brain’s processing capacity and mental workload (P3 amplitude) during cognitive tests, which requireed executive control. The red represents the greatest amount of executive control and blue represents the lowest.
(Hillman et al, Pediatrics/The Atlantic)

The researchers make a plea to policymakers and schools to consider their results, writing, “Given the rapid decline in [physical activity] opportunities for children at school, the dissemination of our findings is particularly important… Specifically, policies that reduce or replace [physical activity] opportunities during the school day (eg, recess), in an attempt to increase academic achievement, may have unintended effects.”

The measures put in place to prepare kids for tests in the future may actually be putting them at a severe disadvantage. It’s important to put this in perspective — our children are our future, after all. They will dictate the successes in this country and in their own lives.