Children who are overweight or obese could have lower intelligence and be more prone to depression, according to a recent study. Children who scored one point lower in picture vocabulary were found to have 1.6 percent more annual BMI gain compared to those who registered a median score.
“Lower cognitive performance and greater psychopathology at baseline were associated with increased weight gain as children entered adolescence,” the study said. Higher initial or baseline BMI was associated with more “depressed symptoms and depression problems.” Children classified as overweight or obese at the time of initial data collection were observed to have gained “more problems annually than those with normal weight.
” The cause of the link between obesity and mental cognition was not made clear in the study. Study findings highlight the importance of mental and cognitive health to weight development among children, the researchers wrote. They suggested that clinicians monitor overweight or obese children for higher depression problems.
The study, conducted by researchers from Washington University, Missouri, received funding from multiple sources, including the university’s McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The funders had no role in the conduct of the study, the paper said. Two researchers.
