The Impact of a 3-Month Continuous Exercise Intervention on the Cognitive Functioning of African Youth

Background: Exercise has been identified as vital for the development of young people. The human body is designed for movement and therefore a lack of exercise produces tremendous negative impact. Moderate to vigorous exercise is protective of health. Studies have indicated a link between exercise and the cognitive performance of students. There are consistent findings that continuous exercise improves cognitive skills of attention and concentration. The influence of exercise on executive functioning however is not conclusive. This study examined the impact of a structured exercise on the executive functioning, an aspect of cognitive functioning, in African young people. Methods: An experimental design was used with 60 adolescents (27 males, 33 females) aged 13 to 18 years (mean=14.83 years) living in Ghana. Participantsa？？ exercise and cognitive functioning were assessed both at baseline and at the end of the intervention. Exercise levels were measured using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Adolescents (PAQ-A) and by pedometer; cognitive functioning was assessed with the Ravena？？s Progressive Matrices test, with additional psychological variables of physical self-worth being measured with a subscale of the Physical Self Perception Profile, and body dissatisfaction using the body image silhouette test. The participants in the experimental group participated in aerobic exercise, twice a week for 3 continuous months. Results: Results from the study showed that participants in the experimental school scored significantly higher on cognitive functioning compared to the control group[44.48(8.88) vs. 34.17(9.82)][F (1,56)=24.99, p<0.001]. Conclusion: The study found that higher levels of moderate to vigorous exercise improve the reasoning capacity of students. The findings also indicated that African students do not participate in regular exercises. Increasing the participation of exercises in school can facilitate the development of executive functioning among young people who are still developing their cognitive functioning. Nutritional practice was controlled in the study by ensuring that only participants with higher scores on the Food Frequency Inventory were included. Therefore nutritional practice did not meditate the relationship between the exercise intervention and cognitive functioning