Samenvatting

Importance Evidence for an acute effect of physical activity on cognitive performance within the school setting is limited. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into acute effects of a short physical activity bout on selective attention in primary school children, specifically in the school setting. Methods Hundred and twenty three 10–11 years old children, 49.6% girls, engaged in four experimental breaks in random order: 1 h of regular cognitive school tasks followed by a 15 min episode with the following conditions 1) ‘no break’ (continuing a cognitive task), 2) passive break (listening to a story), 3) moderate intensity physical activity break (jogging, passing, dribbling) and 4) vigorous intensity physical activity break (running, jumping, skipping). Selective attention in the classroom was assessed by the TEA-Ch test before and after the 15 min break in each condition. Results After the passive break, the moderate intensity physical activity break and the vigorous intensity physical activity break attention scores were significantly better (p