Physical Fitness, White Matter Volume and Academic Performance in Children: Findings From the ActiveBrains and FITKids2 Projects Esteban Cornejo, Irene Rodríguez Ayllon, María Verdejo Román, Juan Cadenas Sánchez, Cristina Mora González, José Rafael Catena Martínez, Andrés Ortega Porcel, Francisco Bartolomé Aerobic capacity Motor ability Speed-agility Muscular strength Brain structure Academic achievement Obesity Childhood and youth The aims of this study were (i) to examine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and white matter volume and test whether those associations differ between normal-weight and overweight/obese children (ii) to analyze the association between other physical fitness components (i.e., motor and muscular) and white matter volume, and (iii) to examine whether the fitness-related associations in white matter volume were related to academic performance. Data came from two independent projects: ActiveBrains project (n = 100; 10.0 1.1 years; 100% overweight/obese; Spain) and FITKids2 project (n = 242; 8.6 0.5 years; 36% overweight/obese, United States). Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed in both projects, and motor and muscular fitness were assessed in the ActiveBrains project. T1-weighted images were acquired with a 3.0 T S Magnetom Tim Trio system. Academic performance was assessed by standardized tests. Cardiorespiratory fitness may positively relate to white matter volume in overweight/obese children, and in turn, academic performance. In addition, motor and muscular fitness may also influence white matter volume coupled with better academic performance. From a public health perspective, implementing exercise interventions that combine aerobic, motor and muscular training to enhance physical fitness may benefit brain development and academic success 2020-01-28T13:34:19Z 2020-01-28T13:34:19Z 2019-01-12 journal article Esteban-Cornejo I, Rodriguez-Ayllon M, Verdejo-Roman J, Cadenas-Sanchez C, Mora-Gonzalez J, Chaddock-Heyman L, Raine LB, Stillman CM, Kramer AF, Erickson KI, Catena A, Ortega FB and Hillman CH (2019) Physical Fitness, White Matter Volume and Academic Performance in Children: Findings From the ActiveBrains and FITKids2 Projects. Front. Psychol. 10:208 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/59215 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España Frontiers Media