Children's intelligence can be affected by their physical fitness

It is important for parents to pay attention to the physical health and fitness of the children. Besides being able to make children comfortable playing, doing activities, and interacting with their friends, it turns out that physical fitness also affects children's intelligence, you know. How does the relationship between the body and intelligence of a child's brain affect each other? Let's look at the explanation below.

There is a relationship between physical fitness and children's intelligence

The new study appears in the journal Brain Research, using an MRI test or magnetic resonance imaging to examine the brains and bodies of 49 children. This research was conducted for the purpose of finding out whether there is a relationship between physical fitness and children's intelligence.

This study looks at the brain differences between children who are healthy and fit and children who are not fit or not. Professor of psychiatry from Illinois University, Laura Chaddock, said that this research focused on the hippocampus.

What is the hippocampus? The hippocampus is a part of the cerebrum that plays an important role when humans learn and remember things. Indeed, previously this study has been conducted on adults, with the same goal. The result, adults who like to exercise are shown to have a larger hippocampus size than people who do not like sports. Then, this large hippocampus benefit was associated with better job performance and problem reasoning.

Meanwhile, animal-tested studies also obtained similar results. The animals, which were forced to exercise, also showed an increase in the size of the hippocampus. And another significant effect is, exercise can increase the growth of new neurons and the survival of cells in the brains of these animals.

Children who are physically fit have a brain volume of 12% more

Well, in this research, Dr. Chaddok found similar results and provided mandatory guidelines that are important for parents to pay attention to. Indeed, it was found that the influence of body fitness on the condition of children's intelligence.

Of the 49 children tested, the average fit and healthy child had a larger brain volume, approximately 12% larger, than the average child. Because researchers also reported an increase in children's physical activity using a treadmill fitness test.

Chaddok stated that children who often exercise their brains can utilize the incoming oxygen more than children whose bodies are less fit. And kids who were physically fit also had better memory tests.

Children's intelligence is also influenced by the following factors

As mentioned above, children's intelligence is influenced by their physical condition. However, it doesn't end there. There are still several other influences that can be beneficial for growth and development and the ability of a child's brain. The following are some of the influencing factors that parents should pay attention to in supporting the fitness and intelligence of their children's brains:

1. Get used to exercise and maintain health

It is difficult, to get children to exercise diligently. The reason is, this really depends on the willingness of the child. However, even a small exercise if used regularly and at least 3 times a week can train motor and improve the health of the child's body.

2. Parents must also pay attention to nutrition and nutrition

It is widely known that both of them greatly determine the fitness and intelligence of children. Therefore, as parents, you must always pay attention to the food patterns consumed by children. Get used to eating healthy foods and avoid greasy and ready-to-eat foods. Because in fact, a child's behavior can also be determined from what he eats daily.

3. Set the child's rest pattern

Children have a very high level of activity, if it is not balanced with adequate rest, it will greatly affect body fitness which in turn affects the intelligence level of the child's brain because without adequate rest, children will feel tired while learning. Get your child used to sleeping at least 7-8 hours a night and napping 2 hours a day.