How can I help my child with ADHD with their thinking (executive function) skills?: Physical activity may help

We know that physical activity has positive effects for the physical health of children and young people. Physical activity can be especially useful for children and young people with ADHD who like and benefit from regular movement. Now research is showing the positive effects may extend way beyond physical effects for those with ADHD – and actually improve some of their thinking skill difficulties.

Thinking skill (known as executive functions) difficulties are very common in those with ADHD and impact every part of school and home life as well as interactions with peers. These include controlling impulses, forgetfulness and difficulties with focus and organisation. We have previously described executive functions in more detail in a previous EPIC Think Learn blog post.

We know that stimulant medication can help executive function skills for many people with ADHD but they don’t work on all aspects and for some people medication doesn’t impact them at all. Some people of course choose to not take medication or can’t take it for other reasons.

Studies on physical activity with those with ADHD are beginning to show what particular aspects of executive functions it helps with. A systematic review of studies (where all studies are brought together on a topic and quality assessed) has shown that physical activity can benefit many aspects of executive functions in children with ADHD but particularly ‘working memory’ and ‘shifting’.

‘Working memory’ (sometimes called short-term memory) is the mental workspace where you hold and organise information for a brief time. Although the diagnostic name ‘ADHD’ would lead you to think that attention is the biggest issue for most children with ADHD it is actually memory that is the biggest area of difficulty for most children with ADHD. The positive impact of physical activity on working memory for children with ADHD can then be a real big help.

‘Shifting’ is the ability to flexibly adjust to changed demands. Often when we are doing a task the step or part that we focus on may change or we may need to change what we prioritise first. This review also showed that studies on shifting showed benefits of physical activity.

A recent study has also suggested that physical activity can also improve ‘inhibition’ which relates to being able to stop and control your responses. Together this research is very positive about the impact of physical activity on thinking skills in children with ADHD.

Next week we are delighted to be hosting a webinar on this topic with Dr Josie Booth, the author of both of these articles, delivering a talk for us on this talk. Dr Booth is also a member of the research team behind the EPIC approach. The webinar will take place on Thursday 27^th 7pm and is accessible though our parent platform, see https://epicthinklearn.com/parents-join-epic/