Physical fitness, physical activity, and the executive function in children with overweight and obesity Mora González, José Rafael Esteban Cornejo, Irene Cadenas Sánchez, Cristina Hidalgo Migueles, Jairo Molina García, Pablo Rodríguez Ayllon, María Henriksson, Pontus Pontifex, Matthew B. Catena Martínez, Andrés Ortega Porcel, Francisco Bartolomé aerobic fitness brain cognitive control cognitive performance executive control health youth Objective: To examine the associations of physical fitness and physical activity with executive function in children with overweight and obesity. Study design: A cross-sectional study involving 100 children with overweight and obesity (10.1 ± 1.1 years old; 58.0% boys). We assessed physical fitness components (ie, muscular strength, speed-agility, and cardiorespiratory fitness) using the ALPHA battery, and physical activity and sedentary time by accelerometry. Cognitive flexibility was measured by the Design Fluency Test and Trail Making Test, inhibition by the Stroop test, and planning ability by the Zoo Map Test. Results: Handgrip strength was positively associated with planning ability (P = .025). Speed-agility was positively related to cognitive flexibility and inhibition (P < .05). Cardiorespiratory fitness and an overall fitness Z-score were positively associated with indicators of cognitive flexibility (P < .05). No associations were found for physical activity and sedentary time with executive function (P ≥ .05). Conclusions: Muscular strength, speed agility, and cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with executive function in children with overweight and obesity. Cognitive flexibility seems to be more robustly associated with all fitness components, whereas planning ability and inhibition might depend on the component analyzed. The positive associations found in the present study in children with overweight and obesity call for more exercise-based randomized controlled trials in this population. 2025-01-17T12:07:41Z 2025-01-17T12:07:41Z 2019-03-19 journal article Mora-Gonzalez J, Esteban-Cornejo I, Cadenas-Sanchez C, Migueles JH, Molina-Garcia P, Rodriguez-Ayllon M, Henriksson P, Pontifex MB, Catena A, Ortega FB. Physical Fitness, Physical Activity, and the Executive Function in Children with Overweight and Obesity. J Pediatr. 2019 May;208:50-56.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.12.028. https://hdl.handle.net/10481/99530 10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.12.028 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier