Traditional education has tended to compartmentalize abstract thought, emotion, and physical activity. However, neuroscientific evidence suggests that these are completely interlinked in the learning ...process. The traditional lecture-style lesson relegates students to a passive and sedentary role, precluding physical movement. In addition, the current trend of schools reducing recess hours, dropping physical education classes, or subjects that involve the whole body—theater, music, outdoor activity—further limits the scope for physical movement within the learning milieu. Neuroscientific evidence suggests that sedentarism impacts negatively on brain health, and not only physical well-being. Humans are designed to be on the move, to interact with their environment through movement: physical activity is a key contributing factor to healthy brain function. This mini review presents and analyzes evidence from diverse studies and meta-analyses showing the strong link between movement and cognition in primary and secondary school students. There is a growing body of neuroscientific evidence of the benefits that movement and physical activity have for cognition. In the research examined, the authors identify diverse types and degrees of physical activity and their impact on the brain. The neurological impact of movement on the brain can be understood at three levels: increased vascularization—oxygen and glucose to the brain—augmenting brain activity; the release of neurotransmitters and Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) which favor neurogenesis, memory, attention and motivation; and the development of complex movement-related neural circuits and their interconnection with the executive brain functions. This article proposes a set of concrete applications for educators to bring movement into their classrooms and/or learning contexts, thus favoring cognition. Based on this evidence and given the current educational reality which generally approaches learning as an abstract activity divorced from our corporality, the authors argue for the need to incorporate physical activity and movement into the learning context.
Objective To determine how cognitive domains mediate the link between fitness components, their global score (GFS), and adolescents’ academic achievement (ACA) across various school subjects. Methods ...In this study, 1,296 adolescents aged 10–14 participated. GFS was computed by three fitness components (strength, muscular, and cardiorespiratory fitness) through the ALPHA-fitness test battery. ACA was determined by five school subjects (Language, English, Mathematics, Science, and History) and two academic scores (a) “Academic Average” (five subjects) and (b) “Academic-PISA” (Language, Mathematics, and Science). A principal component analysis was performed to establish four factors (working memory WM, cognitive flexibility CF , inhibitory control IC, and fluid reasoning FR). A parallel mediation approach was implemented with 5,000 bootstrapped samples controlled for sex, maturity, central obesity, having breakfast before cognitive tasks, schools, and school vulnerability. Total, direct, indirect effects, and mediation percentages were estimated. Results Overall, the finding showed a full parallel mediation effect for Language (92.5%) and English (53.9%), while a partial mediation for Mathematics (43.0%), Science (43.8%), History (45.9%), “Academic Average” (50.6%), and “Academic-PISA” (51.5%). In particular, WM, IC, and FR mediated all school subjects except mathematics, where IC was not significant. CF has not mediated any relationship between GF and academic performance. Conclusion This study underscores the pivotal role of cognitive domains, specifically WM, IC, and FR, in mediating the link between physical fitness and academic performance in adolescents. These insights have relevant implications for educational and public health policies.
Global concern has deepened in recent decades over alarming rates of obesity, sedentarism, insufficient physical activity and fitness levels, and unhealthy eating habits in children and adolescents. ...Parallelly, we have witnessed increased poverty and socioeconomic vulnerability worldwide. Understanding the intrinsic relationship between physical and cognitive health is crucial, and mounting evidence suggests a significant association. However, over 80% of existing data originate from high-income countries, representing a negligible fraction of the world's children. UNICEF projections indicate that by 2030, low- and low-middle-income countries will be home to approximately 63% of the global child and adolescent population. This highlights a substantial knowledge gap which the Cogni-Action Project, conducted in Chile, helps to address. Notably, Chile faces significant challenges, with child overweight-obesity rates reaching 54%, ranking highest in sedentarism, physical inactivity, sugary soft-drink consumption, and educational scores stagnant. Moreover, wealth inequality is stark, with the top 10% of the population owning 77% of the wealth. The Chilean Cogni-Action Project collected comprehensive data over three years (2017-2019) from 1,296 schoolchildren (10-14 years old) in the Valparaíso region. These data encompassed 789 variables spanning physical, psychosocial, cognitive, and lifestyle factors, as well as neuroimaging variables. The present article aims to contextualize and showcase this project based on the papers published to date. As universities and research institutions worldwide pursue similar endeavors, the necessity arises to share findings and methodologies to expedite knowledge development that can inform public policy and shape the agendas of pertinent institutions.
Food systems contribute 23–42% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing food system emissions is an essential component of climate change mitigation, and a system-wide approach, including ...production, processing, trade and demand-side transformations, will be needed. Long-term analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of food supply is crucial for informing this transformation, and understanding the processes contributing to existing trends can reveal opportunities for future mitigation strategies. To address these needs we used data on food supply, trade and emission intensity to quantify changes in GHG emissions between 1986 and 2017 resulting from food supply in the United Kingdom (UK). Uniquely, the relative contributions of supply-side and demand-side changes to historical trends in food emissions were assessed, and the gap between current UK food consumption and EAT-Lancet recommended diets was used to estimate the additional GHG emission reductions that could be achieved by shifting to the Planetary Health Diet (PHD). It was estimated that in the UK, per-capita GHG emissions from food fell by 32% (from 4.6 tCO2eq/capita to 3.1 tCO2eq/capita) between 1986 and 2017. Of this 32% reduction, 21% was due to supply-side changes (a fall in emission intensity per unit of production due to increased efficiency of farming practices), 10% was due to demand-side changes (including dietary change and waste reduction), and 2% was due to changing trade patterns. Relative to the PHD, however, the average UK citizen still greatly over-consumes beef, lamb and pork, tubers and starchy vegetables and dairy products, and under-consumes vegetables, nuts, and legumes. It was estimated that by adopting the PHD, UK per capita food emissions could be reduced by a further 42% to 1.8 tCO2eq/capita. These results expose the historic contributions of both supply- and demand-side changes to reductions in GHG emissions from food, and highlight the underutilised potential of dietary change in contributing to mitigation of GHG emissions from food.
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•UK per-capita food emissions fell by 32% between 1986 and 2017.•Supply and demand-side changes contributed to this reduction.•Adopting the Planetary Health Diet could reduce emissions of UK food supply by 42%.•This reveals the underutilised potential of dietary change as a mitigation strategy.
Tradicionalmente, la educación ha tendido a compartimentar el pensamiento abstracto, la emoción y la actividad física. Sin embargo, la evidencia neurocientífica sugiere que estos tres elementos están ...estrechamente vinculados con el proceso de aprendizaje. En la “Introducción” de este artículo se repasa el contexto actual: cómo la tradicional clase magistral relega a los estudiantes a un papel pasivo y sedentario que impide el movimiento físico; cómo en los colegios se van reduciendo las horas de recreo y suprimiendo las clases de educación física o aquellas asignaturas que involucran todo el cuerpo (teatro, música, actividades al aire libre), con lo cual se limita aún más la presencia de la actividad física en el entorno de aprendizaje. La evidencia neurocientífica sugiere que el sedentarismo no solo tiene un impacto nocivo en el bienestar físico, sino también en la salud cerebral. El ser humano está diseñado para moverse, para interrelacionarse con su medioambiente, con el movimiento: la actividad física es un factor clave que contribuye al funcionamiento saludable del cerebro. En la sección 2, “Aportes de la investigación neurocientífica”, las autoras presentan y analizan diversos estudios y metaanálisis que destacan la asociación positiva entre la actividad física y la cognición en estudiantes de Educación Primaria y Secundaria. En estas investigaciones examinan este vínculo en tres niveles: el incremento de la vascularización (que incrementa el oxígeno y la glucosa en el cerebro); la liberación de neurotransmisores y el factor neurotrófico derivado del cerebro (BDNF en sus siglas en inglés) que favorecen la neurogénesis, la memoria, la atención y la motivación; y el desarrollo de circuitos neurales complejos relacionados con el movimiento y su interconexión con las funciones ejecutivas del cerebro. En la sección 3, “Discusión”, se repasan las limitaciones y las aplicaciones de la evidencia examinada. El artículo concluye con unas recomendaciones para que los docentes puedan integrar la actividad física en el aula o en el entorno de aprendizaje. Teniendo en cuenta esta evidencia y la realidad educacional actual, que generalmente considera al aprendizaje como una actividad abstracta, divorciada de nuestra corporalidad, las autoras argumentan la necesidad de incorporar la actividad física al entorno de aprendizaje.
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