A new study from
Dr. Pontifex of Michigan State University, published in the
Journal of Pediatrics has found some potential good news for parents of children with ADHD. Especially parents wanting to help their children with as little medication as possible. Dr. Pontifex and his research team had a group of 40 children between the ages of 8 and 10 years old (20 with ADHD, 20 without), participate in one of two different activities (20 minutes of reading while at rest, or 20 minutes of aerobic exercise on a treadmill). After completing the experiment in a way to make sure the only thing that could create the differences observed was related to the exercise, they found that all children (with and without ADHD) performed better on reading and math tasks, including greater accuracy of responses. While the study sample was small and would need to be replicated with a much larger sample to ensure the consistency of the results, the information and results provide some interesting possibilities. Based on these results, 20 minutes of aerobic exercise before tasks that require focus and sustained effort may help children with ADHD perform better and more accurately. Some questions still remain however, for instance, how long after the aerobic exercise can these results be expected to last?
Of other particular interest, not reported elsewhere that I can find, while most other variables examined in this study showed expected statistical significance, one variable that was tested, IQ, showed no significant differences between the two groups. In other words, children in this study with ADHD and without ADHD had similar enough IQ scores that the based on statistical standards they are considered "the same". Again, this sample is so small that more advanced exploration is needed. However the results also point out an important aspect of children with ADHD, they are just as intelligent (on statistical average) as children without ADHD.
What are your thoughts about these study results?
