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Overweight and obese infants present lower cognitive and motor development scores than normal-weight peers

Ana Cristina Resende Camargos1, Vanessa Amaral Mendonça1, Camila Alves de Andrade2

  • 1Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Programa Multicêntrico de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Fisiológicas, Sociedade Brasileira de Fisiologia, Diamantina, Brazil.

Research in Developmental Disabilities
|October 12, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Overweight infants show delays in cognitive and motor development compared to normal-weight peers. Higher body weight and length negatively impact cognitive skills, while body mass index affects motor skills in infants.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Infant obesity is a growing concern with potential long-term health implications.
  • Early childhood development is crucial for overall well-being and future outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare cognitive and motor development between overweight/obese infants and normal-weight infants.
  • To examine the relationship between body weight, length, BMI, and developmental outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study involving 56 infants aged 6-24 months (28 overweight/obese, 28 normal-weight).
  • Utilized the Bayley-III infant development test for cognitive and motor assessments.
  • Employed t-tests and Spearman correlation for statistical analysis.

Main Results:

  • Overweight/obese infants demonstrated significantly lower cognitive and motor composite scores.
  • Negative correlations observed between body weight/length and cognitive development.
  • Body mass index showed a significant negative association with motor development.

Conclusions:

  • This study highlights the detrimental effects of overweight/obesity on both cognitive and motor development in infants.
  • Findings suggest early intervention may be necessary for overweight infants to mitigate developmental risks.
Abstract

Keywords:
Child developmentCognitionInfantMotor skillsObesityOverweight

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