Physical fitness and problem solving skills in young females

Numerous researches about children show that physical and cognitive development are linked. During their growth many changes in the children’s body and brain occur, chan¬ges that are very important for their psycho/social evolution. Some studies have been conducted about the role of dif¬ferent types of activities and motor skill training, showing that physical activities conducted as routine movements can be linked with better cognitive performance and academic achievement. The aim of this study is to provide a descriptive analysis to investigate the possible relation between some dimensions of physical fitness and problem solving skills in children. The study has considered 56 children aged between 6-11 years, divided into two samples: the first composed by some gymnasts; the second by pupils of the primary school, both randomly chosen. To assess the physical fitness of young girls and the cogni¬tive development has been selected many tools: motor tests to evaluate the conditional/coordinative capacities and ar¬ticular mobility (Buonaccorsi, 2003), test of Gross Motor Development (Ulrich, 1985), Bioelectrical impedance analysis BIA and Test of Potential Intelligence to assess the problem solving skills TEP (R. A Fabio, 2007). Our investigation obviously showed a significant differen¬ce between the two groups in physical tests and body compo¬sition but it is important highlight some correlations betwe¬en the problem-solving test and the different motor abilities analyzed observing the whole sample. All the correlations between potential intelligence and the others variables appear significant. The values more correla¬ted with TIP are the variables of coordinative dimension. The gross motor development quotient correlated with tip is r= 0. 74. This is a high value, but not enough to argue that there is a connection of cause and effect, because other varia-bles could influence the results. The motor activities, and especially the coordination skill training, could be one of the factors that help the cognitive development of children