Boosting Children's Reasoning Skills: A Recipe of Reading, Healthy Habits, and Sports

Kuopio [Finland], August 19 (ANI): The ability to reason is a crucial skill for learning, academic achievement, and problem-solving in daily life. A recent study conducted by the University of Eastern Finland has revealed that an enhanced overall diet, reduced consumption of red meat, increased time spent reading, and involvement in organized sports contribute to the improvement of children's reasoning abilities during their initial two years of schooling.

"Children adhering to healthier dietary patterns exhibited more pronounced cognitive development compared to their peers. Specifically, a higher quality diet, lower consumption of red meat, and increased intake of low-fat dairy products were associated with enhanced reasoning skills," explained Doctoral Researcher Sehrish Naveed from the University of Eastern Finland.

Children who dedicated more time to reading and engaged in structured sports demonstrated superior performance in reasoning assessments than their counterparts. Conversely, excessive computer usage and unsupervised leisure-time physical activity were correlated with weaker thinking skills. However, factors like screen time, active school commuting, physical activity during playtime, and the intensity of physical activity showed no significant link to thinking skills.

More than half of the children took part in a two-year intervention focused on personalized family-based dietary and physical activity adjustments. Surprisingly, this intervention did not impact reasoning skills, as children in both the intervention and control groups exhibited similar cognitive development.

"In the context of a child's growth, dietary and physical activity interventions are just a portion of the influencing factors on lifestyle and reasoning skills. According to our findings, promoting a healthy diet and encouraging reading can contribute positively to the development of reasoning skills in children. Additionally, engaging in organized sports seems to provide support for reasoning abilities," highlighted Dr. Eero Haapala. (ANI)