title: Aerobic Fitness and Cognitive Functions in Economically Underprivileged Children Aged 7-9 Years: A preliminary Study from South India.
abstract: This study examined the relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive functions in 7-9 year old school going children hailing from a socio-economically disadvantaged background in Bangalore, India. Ninety eight children (51% boys and 49% girls) were assessed on height, weight, BMI, aerobic fitness (multistage 20 m shuttle test) and cognitive functions (verbal tests: comprehension, arithmetic, vocabulary, analogies; performance tests: block design, object assembly and coding). Number of shuttles was significantly positively correlated with two of the cognitive tests: comprehension (p=0.01) and block design (p=0.005). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the number of shuttles emerged as an independent predictor of tests of comprehension and block design after adjusting for BMI and gender. The above findings provide preliminary evidence for the association between aerobic fitness and cognitive functions in children from poor socio-economic background.
authors.affiliation: St. Johns Research Institute, Bangalore-560034, India;
authors.forename: Arpitha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: Crystal D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: D'Souza
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sumithra
authors.forename: Sandhya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Avadhani
authors.forename: Chaya Mayasandra
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Subramanya
authors.forename: Krishnamachari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
keywords: South India; aerobic fitness; cognitive functions; economically underprivileged children