Cognitive performance, school engagement and mental well-being are all important factors that contribute to learning processes and thus to academic achievement. A variety of brain regions associated with memory, emotions, and behavior are involved in these skills and processes. Brain regions continue to mature throughout childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Therefore, it is important to create environments in which children, adolescents and young adults can optimally develop and flourish and that positively influence brain development. Physical activity behavior can play an important role in this by neurobiological, psychosocial and behavioral mechanisms.
It is well-known that physical activity is associated with improvements in physical and mental health, and emerging evidence suggests that physical activity is also associated with improvements in cognition and academic performance in children. Yet, for adolescents and young adults such evidence is currently lacking. While physical activity has been the focus of numerous studies, more recently sedentary behavior has become another focus point in the field of physical activity behavior. High levels of sedentary behavior are associated with unfavorable health outcomes, independently of the amount of physical activity. Educators and researchers have acknowledged that student populations (i.e., children, adolescents, and young adults) tend to engage in high levels of sedentary behavior. While interrupting sedentary time with for example standing desks or physically active learning may be promising options to change this unhealthy behavior, associations with cognitive performance and mental well-being are not yet studied extensively.
Therefore, for this Research Topic, we are looking for submissions dealing with physical activity behavior, whether or not combined with cognitively engaging activities, covering the whole spectrum from sedentary behavior (= 1.5 metabolic equivalents(MET)), light physical activity (1.6-2.9 MET), and moderate to vigorous physical activity (= 3.0 MET) and factors contributing to learning processes and academic achievement, such as (but not limited to) cognitive performance, school engagement, mental well-being and self-concept. We welcome submissions of manuscripts which include observational and experimental studies.
Cognitive performance, school engagement and mental well-being are all important factors that contribute to learning processes and thus to academic achievement. A variety of brain regions associated with memory, emotions, and behavior are involved in these skills and processes. Brain regions continue to mature throughout childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Therefore, it is important to create environments in which children, adolescents and young adults can optimally develop and flourish and that positively influence brain development. Physical activity behavior can play an important role in this by neurobiological, psychosocial and behavioral mechanisms.
It is well-known that physical activity is associated with improvements in physical and mental health, and emerging evidence suggests that physical activity is also associated with improvements in cognition and academic performance in children. Yet, for adolescents and young adults such evidence is currently lacking. While physical activity has been the focus of numerous studies, more recently sedentary behavior has become another focus point in the field of physical activity behavior. High levels of sedentary behavior are associated with unfavorable health outcomes, independently of the amount of physical activity. Educators and researchers have acknowledged that student populations (i.e., children, adolescents, and young adults) tend to engage in high levels of sedentary behavior. While interrupting sedentary time with for example standing desks or physically active learning may be promising options to change this unhealthy behavior, associations with cognitive performance and mental well-being are not yet studied extensively.
Therefore, for this Research Topic, we are looking for submissions dealing with physical activity behavior, whether or not combined with cognitively engaging activities, covering the whole spectrum from sedentary behavior (= 1.5 metabolic equivalents(MET)), light physical activity (1.6-2.9 MET), and moderate to vigorous physical activity (= 3.0 MET) and factors contributing to learning processes and academic achievement, such as (but not limited to) cognitive performance, school engagement, mental well-being and self-concept. We welcome submissions of manuscripts which include observational and experimental studies.
