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ADHD & Physical Activity

Roman Waldera, M.S.

Joe Deutsch, Ph.D.

North Dakota State University, USA

Roman.W.Waldera@ndsu.edu

A small portion of American children and adults are affected by attention

deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a chronic mental condition that includes a variety

of symptoms. The brain activity of individuals with ADHD is abnormal in its

characteristics of neuro-transmitter activity during tasks that require attention. Symptoms

are often treated with medication that stimulates attention levels. For children diagnosed

with ADHD, these pharmaceutical interventions are often paired with structured social

and behavioral support, as well as dietary modifications in order to further remediate

symptoms. In addition, physical activity (PA) interventions may present additional non- pharmaceutical opportunities to reduce ADHD symptoms. This presentation will

introduce an extensive review of literature assessing the notion that neuro-activation and

attentional performance of children with ADHD can be optimized with interventions of

PA. Overall, research suggests PA interventions, which are free of cost and health-care

professional reliance, can be easily adapted into a daily schedule of children or adults

with ADHD to effectively prepare for bouts of attentional effort.