Acute Effects of Classroom Exercise Breaks on Executive Function and Math Performance: A Dose-Response Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the acute dose-response relationship of classroom exercise breaks with executive function and math performance in 9- to 12-year-old children by comparing 5-min, 10-min, or 20-min classroom exercise breaks to 10 min of sedentary classroom activity....

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Main Authors: Howie, Erin, Schatz, J., Pate, R.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25040
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author Howie, Erin
Schatz, J.
Pate, R.
author_facet Howie, Erin
Schatz, J.
Pate, R.
author_sort Howie, Erin
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the acute dose-response relationship of classroom exercise breaks with executive function and math performance in 9- to 12-year-old children by comparing 5-min, 10-min, or 20-min classroom exercise breaks to 10 min of sedentary classroom activity. Method: This study used a within-subjects experimental design conducted in the spring of 2012. Ninety-six 4th- and 5th-grade students in 5 classrooms in South Carolina were randomized to receive each of 4 treatments: 5-min, 10-min, or 20-min exercise breaks or 10 min of a sedentary lesson led by research staff. Students completed the Trail-Making Test, an Operational Digit Recall test, and a math fluency test immediately before and after each condition. Planned linear contrasts were used to compare posttest scores between conditions using a repeated-measures mixed model, adjusted for gender, classroom, and the time-varying pretest scores. Potential effect modifiers were added as interaction terms. Results: Math scores were higher after the 10-min and 20-min exercise breaks compared with the sedentary condition (d = 0.24, p =.04, and d = 0.27, p =.02, respectively), and an interaction was observed with gender, IQ, aerobic fitness, and lower engagement in some of the conditions. There were no improvements in executive function tasks. Conclusions: A 10-min and 20-min classroom exercise break moderately improved math performance in students compared with a seated classroom lesson. © 2015
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-250402017-09-13T15:20:56Z Acute Effects of Classroom Exercise Breaks on Executive Function and Math Performance: A Dose-Response Study Howie, Erin Schatz, J. Pate, R. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the acute dose-response relationship of classroom exercise breaks with executive function and math performance in 9- to 12-year-old children by comparing 5-min, 10-min, or 20-min classroom exercise breaks to 10 min of sedentary classroom activity. Method: This study used a within-subjects experimental design conducted in the spring of 2012. Ninety-six 4th- and 5th-grade students in 5 classrooms in South Carolina were randomized to receive each of 4 treatments: 5-min, 10-min, or 20-min exercise breaks or 10 min of a sedentary lesson led by research staff. Students completed the Trail-Making Test, an Operational Digit Recall test, and a math fluency test immediately before and after each condition. Planned linear contrasts were used to compare posttest scores between conditions using a repeated-measures mixed model, adjusted for gender, classroom, and the time-varying pretest scores. Potential effect modifiers were added as interaction terms. Results: Math scores were higher after the 10-min and 20-min exercise breaks compared with the sedentary condition (d = 0.24, p =.04, and d = 0.27, p =.02, respectively), and an interaction was observed with gender, IQ, aerobic fitness, and lower engagement in some of the conditions. There were no improvements in executive function tasks. Conclusions: A 10-min and 20-min classroom exercise break moderately improved math performance in students compared with a seated classroom lesson. © 2015 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25040 10.1080/02701367.2015.1039892 Routledge fulltext
spellingShingle Howie, Erin
Schatz, J.
Pate, R.
Acute Effects of Classroom Exercise Breaks on Executive Function and Math Performance: A Dose-Response Study
title Acute Effects of Classroom Exercise Breaks on Executive Function and Math Performance: A Dose-Response Study
title_full Acute Effects of Classroom Exercise Breaks on Executive Function and Math Performance: A Dose-Response Study
title_fullStr Acute Effects of Classroom Exercise Breaks on Executive Function and Math Performance: A Dose-Response Study
title_full_unstemmed Acute Effects of Classroom Exercise Breaks on Executive Function and Math Performance: A Dose-Response Study
title_short Acute Effects of Classroom Exercise Breaks on Executive Function and Math Performance: A Dose-Response Study
title_sort acute effects of classroom exercise breaks on executive function and math performance: a dose-response study
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25040