Amenya Priscilla Cecilia Akpene, Annan Reginald Adjetey, Apprey Charles, Kpewou Daniel Edem
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31, Ho, Ghana.
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biosciences, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, PMB Kumasi, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2021 Mar 8;7(3):e06324. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06324. eCollection 2021 Mar.
Physical fitness is thought to promote cognitive function. Evidence about this is however lacking in the Ghanaian context. This study aimed to investigate the association between physical fitness and cognitive function among basic school children aged 8-13 years. A cross-sectional study involving 591 school children, recruited from 12 randomly selected public and private basic schools was conducted. Physical fitness tests were done using a five-test battery (Fifty metre run, handgrip strength, sit-up, flexibility and standing board jump) following standardized procedures. Cognitive function test using the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) were carried out. More girls (55%), children from 8-13 years old (49.1%) and public school children (66.1%) participated in the study. For fitness, boys performed better than girls in sit ups 3.4 ± 2.2 (mean ± SD), p = 0.012, handgrip 4.3 ± 2.0, p = 0.001 and overall fitness 4.3 ± 2.0, p = 0.007. Children in public schools performed significantly better in forward jump (p < 0.001) while those in private schools did better in 50m run (p < 0.001). For cognition, 46.1% of participants had less than 50% of the total score. Cognitive test score varied for forward jump and handgrip alone and not for sit ups, 50m run and overall score. Mean forward jump score was lowest in poor cognition group (4.9 ± 2.3), followed by good (5.3 ± 2.2) and highest among excellent (5.5 ± 2.3, p = 0.044) cognition group. Similar observation was made for handgrip. Cognition score and hand grip strength were positively but weakly correlated. (r = 0.132, p = 0.026). Although handgrip strength (measuring muscular strength) was significantly associated with cognitive function, this study found no significant association between overall physical fitness and cognitive function. These results indicate that only some components of physical fitness may be associated with cognitive function. This study is however correlational and one cannot infer causality.
人们认为身体健康有助于促进认知功能。然而，在加纳的背景下，缺乏关于这方面的证据。本研究旨在调查8至13岁小学生的身体健康与认知功能之间的关联。进行了一项横断面研究，涉及从12所随机选择的公立和私立小学招募的591名学童。按照标准化程序，使用五项测试组合（50米跑、握力、仰卧起坐、柔韧性和立定跳远）进行体能测试。使用瑞文彩色渐进矩阵（RCPM）进行认知功能测试。更多女孩（55%）、8至13岁儿童（49.1%）和公立学校儿童（66.1%）参与了研究。在体能方面，男孩在仰卧起坐（3.4±2.2，平均值±标准差，p = 0.012）、握力（4.3±2.0，p = 0.001）和总体体能（4.3±2.0，p = 0.007）方面表现优于女孩。公立学校的儿童在立定跳远方面表现明显更好（p < 0.001），而私立学校的儿童在50米跑方面表现更好（p < 0.001）。在认知方面，46.1%的参与者总分低于50%。认知测试分数仅在立定跳远和握力方面有所不同，而在仰卧起坐、50米跑和总分方面没有差异。认知能力差的组平均立定跳远分数最低（4.9±2.3），其次是认知能力好的组（5.3±2.2），认知能力优秀的组最高（5.5±2.3，p = 0.044）。握力方面也有类似观察结果。认知分数与握力强度呈正相关但较弱（r = 0.132，p = 0.026）。虽然握力（测量肌肉力量）与认知功能显著相关，但本研究发现总体身体健康与认知功能之间没有显著关联。这些结果表明，只有部分体能成分可能与认知功能相关。然而，本研究是相关性的，无法推断因果关系。
