Fat pre-teens are less able to solve problems and think logically compared to their lighter peers, a new study reveals. Those with a high BMI had different brain structures, circuits and cognitive performance than other kids with a normal BMI.
Scientists are concerned with their findings at a time of life when children's brains are developing quickly. The team from Boston Children's Hospital studied nearly 5,000 nine to 10-year-olds at 21 sites across the United States.
While they couldn't prove that a high BMI caused the differing brain functions they could say there was a 'significant' association between the two compared to preteens with normal body-mass index . Study leader Dr Caterina Stamoulis, a researcher in Adolescent Medicine and director of the Computational Neuroscience Laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital, finds the association concerning.
She said: “It raises an alarm that it’s important to track adolescents’ brain health, especially when they have excess BMI. Early adolescence is a time when the brain is very actively developing, and when frontal areas of the brain, those involved in higher cognitive functions, change enormously and are vulnerable to miswiring.”
Published in the International Journal of Obesity, the research found that in preteens with excess BMI, brain circuits supporting higher-level cognitive functions, reward, emotional processing, and attention were found to be organised less efficiently, less well connected and less resilient.
It manifested as a lower ability to think logically and solve problems in new settings. The differences were consistent even after adjusting for factors like sleep duration, screen time, physical activity, depression, and self-worth related to weight that may affect both BMI and brain health.
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Further planned research includes a two year follow-up to see what happens to children's brains over time. Dr Stamoulis added: “Once the brain is done wiring, it’s more difficult to intervene. We want to see what neurodevelopmental trajectories these youth are on.”
