Physical Fitness in Childhood Linked to Cognitive Performance Decades Later

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Physical Fitness in Childhood Linked to Cognitive Performance Decades Later

Greater physical fitness during childhood is linked to better cognitive performance decades later, according to a new study published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport.

Cognitive health is a major concern for many people as they get older, but there is growing evidence that certain lifestyle factors can have an effect on cognition earlier in life — or years down the road. One recent study showed that especially among women, cardiovascular health was linked to cognitive health in middle age. Another study showed that for adults in their 20s and 30s, cardiovascular risk factors — like blood pressure and fasting blood glucose — helped predict cognitive decline after age 80. And a collection of lifestyle factors in middle age have been linked to the risk for dementia later in life. People with prediabetes and diabetes are at higher risk for cognitive decline and dementia, but there are steps you can take to reduce this risk — including optimizing your blood glucose control, and following a healthy diet such as the Mediterranean diet.

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For the latest study, researchers looked at data from 1985, when participants between the ages of 7 and 15 had several aspects of their physical fitness measured (cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular power, and muscular endurance) along with their waist-to-hip ratio. Among these participants, 1,244 underwent a follow-up assessment between 2017 and 2019, when they ranged in age from 39 to 50. As part of this follow-up assessment, they underwent cognitive testing that looked at several areas (psychomotor speed-attention, learning-working memory, and global cognition). The researchers then looked for any relationship between earlier measures of physical fitness and later measures of cognitive performance.

Lower levels of fitness in childhood linked to poorer cognitive performance later in life

The researchers found that compared with participants who had the highest level of physical fitness and the lowest waist-to-hip ratio in their youth, three different poorer fitness profiles — different levels of poorer cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular power, and muscular endurance — were linked to worse cognitive performance in midlife, in the areas of psychomotor-attention and global cognition. This link remained after the researchers adjusted for other factors like academic performance, socioeconomic status, smoking, and alcohol consumption, as noted in an article on the study at Medscape.

While this study didn’t look at how physical fitness might affect cognitive health, the researchers noted that previous research has shown that physical activity helps encourage the formation of new neurons, neuronal connections, and blood vessels in the brain. This study also didn’t show whether being fit during childhood alone had lasting effects, or if healthy behaviors related to fitness during childhood tended to persist into adulthood — which could account for at least some of the cognitive benefit that was seen.

Still, the researchers concluded, “Strategies that improve low fitness and decrease obesity levels in childhood could contribute to improvements in cognitive performance in midlife.”

Want to learn more about maintaining cognitive health with diabetes? Read “Nine Tips to Keep Your Memory With Diabetes,” “Keeping Your Brain Strong With Diabetes” and “Memory Fitness: How to Get It, How to Keep It.”

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Quinn Phillips

Quinn Phillips

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A freelance health writer and editor based in Wisconsin, Phillips has a degree from Harvard University. He is a former Editorial Assistant for Diabetes Self-Management and has years of experience covering diabetes and related health conditions. Phillips writes on a variety of topics, but is especially interested in the intersection of health and public policy.

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