Physical Exercise and Functional Outcomes in Children with ADHD
The Journal of Attention Disorders published a meta-analysis on the possible beneficial effects of exercise in alleviating ADHD functional outcomes in children. After searching various databases, 10 studies for a total of 300 participants on the effects of physical exercise on motor skills and executive functions in children with ADHD were included. The analysis revealed the following:
- exercise had a significant effect on functional outcomes, ie executive functions and motor skills, in children with ADHD
- longer exercise intervention duration was consistently associated with larger effect sizes.
- effect sizes were not related to exercise intensity, mean age of participants, or gender distribution.
Reference: Ruta Vysniauske, Lot Verburgh, Jaap Oosterlaan, and Marc L. Molendijk. The Effects of Physical Exercise on Functional Outcomes in the Treatment of ADHD: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Attention Disorders 1087054715627489, first published on February 9, 2016 doi:10.1177/1087054715627489
Get Moving Flashcards – Get Moving Flashcards is a collection of 5 physical activity breaks (jogging in place, marching, squats, jumping jacks and trunk twists) randomly placed between flash cards. Basically, the slides will move along, the child says the letter out loud, air writes the letter or writes the letter on paper. Anytime a movement slide shows up the child performs that movement. FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION.