The Effect Of 12-week High-step Aerobic Exercise On Executive Function And Balance Ability In Adolescents And Children

Objective:The physical health of children and adolescents is a major concern in our country.Executive functions are high-level cognitive functions that coordinate and control a series of basic cognition in a variety of complex situations and play an irreplaceable and important role in an individual’s physical and mental development.Balance is an important physiological function and component of physical fitness,mainly in the body’s ability to maintain the body’s posture when fighting against external damage.This paper proposes to investigate the effects of a high-footed racing sport intervention on the level of executive function,balance,and interest in physical education in adolescent children.In order to provide a theoretical basis for improving the level of executive function,balance ability,and interest in physical education learning in adolescent children.It also provides theoretical support for primary and secondary school educators to develop and design more targeted,scientifically sound,and scalable teaching practices based on this study to further promote the healthy physical and mental development of adolescent children.Methods:Sixty middle school students from Gaoban Middle School in Jintang County,Chengdu City were selected and randomly divided into experimental group(n=30)and control group(n=30).The experimental group underwent 12 weeks of high-footed competitive sports training,and the control group underwent regular physical education course training.The levels of executive function,balance and interest in physical education learning were measured before and after the experiment,respectively.Data were expressed using mean ± standard deviation(M ± SD),and two-way comparisons were made using two-way repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc tests using two-sample and paired samples t-tests,respectively,to examine the differences between the two groups after the intervention and the changes within the group before and after the intervention.Results:(1)Executive function: There was a highly significant difference in the effect of the high-footed racing sports intervention versus the regular physical education program on the correct refresh function rate of adolescent children,with a time to refresh function x group interaction(F=15.77,P<0.01),and the high-footed racing sports intervention group outperformed the regular physical education class intervention group.There were no significant differences in the effects of the two modalities of intervention on adolescent children’s response times for inhibitory function,refreshing function and switching function,with interactions for inhibitory function time × group(F=0.01,P>0.05);refreshing function time × group(F=0.07,P>0.05);and switching function time × group(F=0.01,P>0.05).There was no significant difference in the effect on the correct rate of inhibition and conversion function,with the interaction of time for inhibition x group(F=0.01,P>0.05);and time for conversion x group(F=0.33,P>0.05),but the high-footed racing exercise intervention group performed significantly better than the regular physical education class intervention group.(2)Balance ability:Within-group comparison: compared to before the experimental intervention,there was a significant difference(P<0.05)in the right leg ALAT,PLAT,POST,MED,AMED,and left leg ANT,LAT,POST,and AMED directions in the experimental group;in the right leg AMED direction in the control group,there was a significant difference(P<0.05);in the right leg ANT,LAT,and PMED,and in the left leg ALAT,PLAT,PMED,and MED directions in the experimental group,with no significant differences(P>0.05).In the control group,there was no significant difference(P>0.05)in the direction of ANT,ALAT,LAT,PLAT,POST,PMED,MED for the left and right legs,and AMED for the left leg.Comparison between groups: after the experimental intervention,the experimental group was better than the control group in the direction of ALAT,LAT,PLAT,POST,and PEMD in the right leg and ANT,PLAT,POST,and AMED in the left leg,with significant differences(P<0.05);in the direction of ANT,MED,and AMED in the right leg and ALAT,LAT,LAT,PMED,and MED in the left leg,with no significant differences(P>0.05).(3)Levels of interest in physical education learning:Within-group comparison: compared to the pre-experimental intervention,there were significant differences in the positive interest and sports participation dimensions in the experimental group(P<0.05);there were no significant differences in the negative interest,autonomy and research,attention to sport and cognitive sport dimensions(P>0.05).There were no significant differences in the positive interest,negative interest,sports participation,autonomy and inquiry,attention to sport and awareness of sport dimensions in the control group(P>0.05).Comparison between groups: after the experimental intervention,the positive interest dimension,the experimental group was better than the control group and had a significant difference(P<0.05);the negative interest,sports participation,autonomy and inquiry,attention to sports and awareness of sports dimensions,had no significant difference(P>0.05).Conclusion:The high-footed racing sports intervention was effective in improving the level of executive function,balance,and interest in physical learning in young children,and the intervention was more effective than regular physical education classes.