The Effect of Defense Sports on the Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a significant problem in children. Primarily pharmacological, educational, cognitive-behavioural and multi-model intervention techniques are used to treat this disorder. The success level differs with advantages and disadvantages of each technique and any single technique is not sufficient. In recent years, the positive aspects of physical exercise used in treatment alone or in combination with other techniques has made the different types of physical exercise worthy of investigation. This review aims to summarize the scientific evidence obtained through literature on the effects of defense sports in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. The results showed that the most beneficial sports are Taekwondo, Karate, Judo and Tai Chi. There are studies supporting the positive effect of the use of defense sports in treatment with few exceptions, but it is quantitatively insufficient. Therefore, new studies are needed to test the effect of different defense sports on a sufficient number of different samples representing the related population.