ABSTRACT
Childhood obesity rates have risen dramatically over the past few decades. Although obesity has been linked to poorer neurocognitive functioning in adults, much less is known about this relationship in children and adolescents. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to examine the relationship between obesity and obesity-related behaviors with neurocognitive functioning in youth. We reviewed articles from 1976 to 2013 using PsycInfo, PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar. Search terms included cognitive function, neurocognitive function/performance, executive function, impulsivity, self-regulation, effortful control, cognitive control, inhibition, delayed gratification, memory, attention, language, motor, visuo-spatial, academic achievement, obesity, overweight, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, adiposity and body fat. Articles were excluded if participants had health problems known to affect cognitive functioning, the study used imaging as the only outcome measure, they were non-peer-reviewed dissertations, theses, review papers, commentaries, or they were non-English articles. Sixty-seven studies met inclusion criteria for this review. Overall, we found data that support a negative relationship between obesity and various aspects of neurocognitive functioning, such as executive functioning, attention, visuo-spatial performance, and motor skill. The existing literature is mixed on the effects among obesity, general cognitive functioning, language, learning, memory, and academic achievement. Executive dysfunction is associated with obesity-related behaviors, such as increased intake, disinhibited eating, and less physical activity. Physical activity is positively linked with motor skill. More longitudinal research is needed to determine the directionality of such relationships, to point towards crucial intervention time periods in the development of children, and to inform effective treatment programs.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior , Child Behavior , Cognition Disorders/physiopathology , Cognition , Executive Function , Pediatric Obesity/physiopathology , Pediatric Obesity/psychology , Adolescent , Body Mass Index , Child , Child, Preschool , Cognition Disorders/etiology , Cognition Disorders/psychology , Educational Status , Female , Health Behavior , Humans , Male , Motor Activity , Neuropsychological Tests , Pediatric Obesity/complicationsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Emotional eating, defined as eating in response to a range of negative emotions, is common in youths. Yet, there are few easily administered and well-validated methods to assess emotional eating in pediatric populations. OBJECTIVE: The current study tested the construct validity of the Emotional Eating Scale (EES) Adapted for Children and Adolescents (EES-C) by examining its relationship to observed emotional eating at laboratory test meals. METHOD: A total of 151 youths (8-18 years) participated in two multi-item lunch buffet meals on separate days. They ate ad libitum after being instructed to 'eat as much as you would at a normal meal' or to 'let yourself go and eat as much as you want'. State negative affect was assessed immediately before each meal. The EES-C was completed 3 months, on average, before the first test meal. RESULTS: Among youths with high EES-C total scores, but not low EES-C scores, higher pre-meal state negative affect was related to greater total energy intake at both meals, with and without the inclusion of age, race, sex and body mass index (BMI) standard deviation as covariates (ps<0.03). DISCUSSION: The EES-C demonstrates good construct validity for children and adolescents' observed energy intake across laboratory test meals designed to capture both normal and disinhibited eating. Future research is required to evaluate the construct validity of the EES-C in the natural environment and the predictive validity of the EES-C longitudinally.
