There is evidence that physical activity positively influences cognition and academic outcomes in childhood. This systematic review used a three-level meta-analytic approach, which handles nested effect sizes, to assess the impact of physical activity interventions. Ninety-two randomised control trials in typically developing children (5–12 years old, N = 25,334) were identified. Control group type and intervention characteristics including duration, frequency, and teacher qualification were explored as potential moderators. Results showed physical activity interventions improved on-task behaviour with a large effect size (g = 1.04, p = 0.03 (95% CI: 0.08–2.00), very low-certainty evidence) and led to moderate improvements in creativity (g = 0.70, p < 0.01 (0.20–1.20), low-certainty evidence). Small beneficial effects were found for fluid intelligence (g = 0.16, p = 0.03 (0.02, 0.30), moderate-certainty evidence) and working memory (g = 0.18, p = 0.01 (0.07–0.29), very low-certainty evidence), but no overall benefit was observed for attention, inhibitory control, planning, cognitive flexibility or academic outcomes. Heterogeneity was high, and moderator analyses indicated beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) with academic instruction of 6–10-week duration with moderate or moderate to vigorous intensity on mathematics outcomes and enriched PA programmes on language outcomes. In contrast, aerobic PA with moderate to vigorous intensity benefitted executive function outcomes. These results therefore suggest differential mechanisms of impact of different types of PA on different aspects of cognition.

有证据表明，身体活动对儿童时期的认知和学业成绩有积极影响。该系统评价使用三级元分析方法来评估身体活动干预的影响，该方法处理嵌套效应大小。 确定了92 项针对正常发育儿童（5-12 岁，N = 25,334）的随机对照试验。对照组类型和干预特征，包括持续时间、频率和教师资格，被作为潜在的调节因素进行了探索。结果表明，身体活动干预改善了任务中的行为，效果显着（g  = 1.04，p  = 0.03（95% CI：0.08–2.00），极低质量证据），并适度改善了创造力（g = 0.70，p  < 0.01 (0.20–1.20)，低质量证据）。流体智力（g  = 0.16，p  = 0.03（0.02，0.30），中等质量证据）和工作记忆（g  = 0.18，p = 0.01 (0.07–0.29)，非常低质量的证据），但在注意力、抑制控制、计划、认知灵活性或学业成果方面没有观察到总体益处。异质性很高，调节者分析表明，身体活动 (PA) 与为期 6-10 周的学术指导具有中等或中度至剧烈强度的数学成果和丰富的 PA 计划对语言成果的有益影响。相比之下，中等强度到高强度的有氧 PA 有益于执行功能结果。因此，这些结果表明不同类型的 PA 对认知的不同方面的影响有不同的机制。