Efecto del ejercicio físico en la capacidad cognitiva de escolares durante la educación obligatoria

Enrique Jiménez Vaquerizo

Enrique Jiménez Vaquerizo Universidad de Valladolid

Resumen

La actividad física que realizan los niños y las niñas durante el periodo de escolarización (edades comprendidas entre 6 y 16 años) aporta grandes beneficios que influyen en su crecimiento y desarrollo saludable del sistema cardiorrespiratorio y músculo-esquelético. A su vez, diferentes investigaciones han establecido una relación entre la actividad física y el desarrollo cognitivo y desempeño académico. El objetivo del presente trabajo ha sido el de exponer datos de evidencia actuales. El propósito de este documento es la descripción general de la evidencia del efecto de las intervenciones de educación física en la capacidad cognitiva y el rendimiento académico de los niños y las niñas en edad escolar. Para ello, se diseñó una estrategia de búsqueda, basada en la selección de buscadores científicos, la identificación de las palabras clave mediante descriptores Decs/Mesh y el establecimiento de unos criterios de inclusión y exclusión. Los resultados proporcionaron un total de ocho referencias que fueron analizadas y discutidas posteriormente. Tras el análisis de los resultados, y el desarrollo de la discusión se ha podido concluir que, se puede establecer una relación entre Actividad Física (AF) y una mejora académica en el área de las matemáticas así como que más horas de educación física aumentan el rendimiento académico, constatando el efecto positivo sobre la actividad neuronal asociada a los procesos de atención y memoria.

Palabras clave: Educación Física, Actividad física, Función cognitiva, Rendimiento académico, Neuroeducación, Niños y Niñas, Adolescentes

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