Preschool fitness and thinking skills: aerobic fitness shows the clearest association
Children with better aerobic fitness tended to perform better on executive-function tests, while findings for other fitness components were mixed or absent.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
This review found a consistent association between aerobic fitness and executive-function outcomes in preschool children. Other links were less uniform: some movement skills related to working memory or inhibitory control, while body composition, muscle strength and flexibility did not show associations. The findings do not establish that improving fitness causes better thinking skills.
The abstract does not report pooled effect sizes, study designs or assessment timelines. It therefore cannot show the size of the associations or whether fitness changes came before changes in executive function.
Different skills, different patterns
Agility, speed and power were positively associated with working memory. Dynamic balance was associated with inhibitory control. Other combinations of balance, movement skills and thinking measures produced conflicting results, suggesting that the observed pattern depended on the specific outcome.
Association is the central result
The studies assessed physical fitness and executive functions in the same children. The review summarizes relationships between these measurements; it does not demonstrate that a particular activity program improves executive function or identify an exercise schedule to use.
The original publication
Physical fitness and executive functions in early childhood: A systematic review of recent evidence.
Lakicevic N, Manojlovic M, Chichinina E et al.
Complement Ther Med · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41539456
- Record checked
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