Abstract

MAZZOCCANTE, Rafaello Pinheiro et al. The relationship of sports practice with motor performance, selective attention, cognitive flexibility and processing speed in children aged 7 to 10 years. J. Hum. Growth Dev. [online]. 2019, vol.29, n.3, pp. 365-372. ISSN 0104-1282.  http://dx.doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.v29.9534.

INTRODUCTION: Sports initiation is usually started during childhood and adolescence, and the beneficial effects of this practice for physical and motor capacities are already known. Recent research has shown the potential of sports to stimulate and modify cognitive development. OBJECTIVE: To verify the relationship of sports practice during childhood on cardiorespiratory, motor, attention, cognitive flexibility and cognitive processing speed. METHODS: 130 students aged 7 to 10 years participated in the study, of which 68 were athletes and 62 non-athletes, divided into sports group and control group. The researchers carried out three visits for the application of the research instruments, which were carried out in a randomized manner within the school premises, divided into three blocks: 1) attention test for cancellation and test of tracks A and B (applied collectively); 2) jumping tests; 3) anamnesis, body composition and the Körperkoordination für Kinder (KTK) test. RESULTS: Children practicing sports obtained lower values in the weight (28 ± 10.08 kg vs 33.9 ± 15.3 kg), waist circumference (57.8 ± 7.7 cm vs 61.7 ± 9.6 cm) and circumference of the hip (69.1 ± 9.5 cm vs 72.8 ± 10.5 cm). In addition, we observed higher values in single-hops scores (96.9 ± 17.3 vs 85.6 ± 14.3) and lateral jumps scores (99.1 ± 18.8 vs 91.2 ± 18.0) compared to children who do not play sports. (p < 0.05). The high performance in single-heel jumps, side jumps, motor quotient, B-trails and B-A trails presented as predictors of sports practice (CI > 0.50_. CONCLUSION: The results indicated a positive relationship between children practicing sports in childhood and interesting benefits in the ability of cognitive flexibility, without expressing differences in motor coordination compared to non-practicing children.

Keywords : sport; motor coordination; cognitive flexibility; speed of cognitive processing.

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