Study and sport get along well

It is not a waste of time for boys: in addition to keeping the body healthy, physical activity also seems to facilitate them in the study.

Sport is good for health, and this is now well known. But there are still some parents who think that doing sport, especially if and at a competitive level, can somehow be a big waste of time for children.

Better to study rather than waste time in the gym, pool or soccer field.

A recent study shows, however, that boys who are well trained and perform well, especially in outdoor sports, have an age-appropriate body weight and respond better to standard tests for memory and learning functions.

The study involved about 2,000 primary school children in Los Angeles who were asked to run a 1 and a half kilometers, and then to respond to some standardized intelligence tests according to age and sociocultural level.

Well, it was seen that the children who had taken less time for running, because they were trained to move, were also able to give the best results to the tests of intelligence and culture.

In other words: proper nutrition (adequate body weight), well-being, physical activity and academic performance go hand in hand.

That is, if there is any insufficiency in the report card, it is better not to prohibit physical activity to our children by closing them at home slumped on books, indeed, a good run in the open air can also help them improve bad grades.

Physical agility equals mental agility

It is not easy to understand why physical agility can be connected to mental agility, but several studies confirm this hypothesis.

For example, a study published a few years ago showed that if kids exercise regularly, they do better at math. But why?

One of the possible explanations is related to increased blood circulation. Movement increases the blood supply to tissues and therefore also to the brain, including the area where the ability to learn, attention and memory reside.

At least, this is sure to happen in mice. For man there are still no certainties.

It is also likely that more blood to the brain means having very well-nourished brain tissue, with always new nerve cells to spare and therefore also new connections between neurons. Other studies have confirmed that exercise increases the number of functioning brain neurons.

And then it is possible that everything, or a lot, depends on some substance that is released in greater quantities if you do a lot of movement and can promote the nourishment and function of neurons.

In fact, there is a neurotrophic factor, as scientists call it, called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which is nothing more than a protein that is produced in the same area activated by physical activity, and would be able to grow nerve cells and prolong their survival.

And this happens both in animals and in humans, in which serum BDNF levels increase after exercise. And it doesn’t end there.

Exercise and intelligence

Some American scholars have conducted a dynamic study to verify, in vivo, the development of the human brain by exploiting the enormous potential of magnetic resonance imaging.

In particular, they focused on developmental age, examining a small group of healthy children and adolescents, aged 4 to 21, who underwent MRI scans every 2 years for 10 years.

In this way they were able to accurately observe the evolution of the cerebral cortex from childhood to maturity, demonstrating how brain maturation is associated with an enrichment of neuronal circuits that have been most used in childhood and the elimination of those that have not.

And here the connection between physical activity and cognitive functions (intelligence, memory and knowledge) becomes clearer.

In practice, physical activity would be able to “stimulate intelligence” by activating new neuronal circuits on which different and superior intellectual abilities will subsequently develop.

In simpler terms: with sport practiced regularly, the more blood reaches the brain, the more new neurons will remain active and available to higher intellectual functions that require concentration and reasoning.

In addition, the same study showed that practicing different sports develops different motor and perceptual skills.

For example, if tennis and table tennis are important for the coordination of movement with vision, running and swimming develop the perception of one’s body with respect to the external environment (open air and water), while skiing and cycling appear associated with the development of the sense of balance.

Sport, nutrition and the brain

But what does nutrition have to do with it now? A balanced diet is essential to maintain the health and functions of the whole organism for as long as possible, and even more so it is essential for the proper functioning of the “command center”, or the brain.

Among the nutrients that play an important role in this breast are certain minerals that seem to affect brain function and cognitive abilities.

First, iron, which allows the oxygenation of all the tissues of the body, including those of the brain.

Calcium and magnesium are also fundamental, important for all psychomotor mechanisms (reasoning and movement).

Here are, according to the Italian Society of Human Nutrition (SINU), the recommended daily intake levels for these three minelar salts in the different age groups.

With regard to iron in particular, the recommended daily intake levels in adolescents between 11 and 14 years who menstruate rise to 18 mg, while in the age group 39-59 years the values fall to 10 mg if menopause has already appeared.

Last but not least, a fair share of antioxidant vitamins, i.e. anti-aging, will preserve our neuronal cells for as long as possible.

So the circle is completed: a healthy and balanced daily diet, accompanied by adequate physical exercise, are essential conditions to keep the body and mind “in shape”.