What if a school class could sharpen a child's mind and body at the same time? That's the question behind a 12-week trial with 62 junior high students. They were split into three groups for twice-weekly PE: one focused on general fitness, one on sports skills, and one mixing sports with lessons from other subjects.
All three groups saw their overall motor ability improve. The sports skills group showed greater gains in physical fitness and motor cognition. The interdisciplinary group—where sports were paired with other subjects—had the biggest boost in a type of executive function called cognitive flexibility, which helps kids shift gears mentally. Inhibitory control also improved across the board.
The study didn't find a clear winner for motor skill improvement; all groups were similar there. We don't have exact numbers or p-values from the abstract, and the researchers didn't report any safety issues. Because this was a small trial in one age group, we can't say these results would apply to everyone or every school.