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Associations between obesity and cognition in the pre‐school years
Author(s) -
Martin Anne,
Booth Josephine N.,
Young David,
Revie Matthew,
Boyter Anne C.,
Johnston Blair,
Tomporowski Phillip D.,
Reilly John J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1002/oby.21329
Subject(s) - confounding , obesity , cognition , medicine , association (psychology) , cognitive skill , childhood obesity , cohort study , gerontology , cohort , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , cognitive test , cognitive development , vocabulary , developmental psychology , demography , psychology , overweight , psychiatry , pathology , linguistics , philosophy , sociology , psychotherapist
Objective To test the hypothesis that obesity is associated with impaired cognitive outcomes in the pre‐school years. Methods Associations were examined between weight status at age 3‐5 years and cognitive performance at age 5 years. Cognitive outcome measures were tests of pattern construction (visuospatial skills), naming vocabulary (expressive language skills), and picture similarity (reasoning skills). The sample was the UK Millennium Cohort Study ( n = 12,349 participants). Results Boys with obesity at 3 years had significantly lower performance in pattern construction at age 5 years compared to those of a healthy weight, even after controlling for confounders ( β = −0.029, P = 0.03). Controlling for confounders, boys who developed obesity between the ages of 3 and 5 years had lower scores in pattern construction ( β = −0.03, P = 0.03). “Growing out” of obesity had a positive association with picture similarity performance in girls ( β = 0.03, P = 0.04). Conclusions Obesity in the pre‐school years was associated with poorer outcomes for some cognitive measures in this study. Stronger relationships between obesity and cognition or educational attainment may emerge later in childhood.