The toddlers' program was designed according to the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for physical activity, and their executive function was measured against a second group who did not meet these guidelines.

The study's aim was to see the difference in the toddlers' abilities to remember, plan, pay attention, shift between tasks, and regulate their own thoughts and behavior, a suite of skills known as executive function.

"Executive function underlies your ability to engage in goal-directed behaviors," said University of Illinois professor Naiman Khan, who led the study.

"It includes abilities such as inhibitory control, which allows you to regulate your thoughts, emotions and behavior; working memory, by which you are able to hold information in mind long enough to accomplish a task; and cognitive flexibility, the adeptness with which you switch your attention between tasks or competing demands."