Objectively versus subjectively measured physical activity: associations with cognition and academic achievement in adolescents

An increasing amount of research supports a positive association between physical activity and cognitive performance or academic achievement. The majority of these studies focused on children or older adults, while less is known about these associations in adolescents. Moreover, in studies on the associations between physical activity and cognitive performance / academic achievement in adolescents, questionnaires (i.e. self-report) were used to measure physical activity. This subjective measure of physical activity has been found to have several limitations, such as social desirability and recall bias. Therefore, associations between objectively measured physical activity and cognition / academic achievement in Dutch adolescents, controlling for relevant covariates, were investigated in this study.