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Socioeconomic status, BMI, and brain development in children

Evan Dennis1, Peter Manza1, Nora D Volkow2,3

  • 1National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Translational Psychiatry
|January 25, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) impacts brain development and executive function. Higher body mass index (BMI) partially explains how low SES affects brain structure and cognitive abilities, particularly working memory.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Low socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood is linked to executive function deficits and altered brain morphology.
  • Childhood obesity is more prevalent in low SES populations and associated with cognitive impairments and cortical changes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the role of body mass index (BMI) in mediating the relationship between SES and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
  • Investigate how BMI influences the association between SES and brain structure (cortical volume) and function (executive function).

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.
  • Employed multiple linear regression models and mediation analyses to assess relationships.
  • Examined SES indicators (income, education, area deprivation), BMI, cortical volumes, and executive function performance.

Main Results:

  • Lower SES was associated with lower BMI, larger total and prefrontal cortical volumes, and better executive function.
  • Mediation analyses revealed BMI significantly mediated the effects of area deprivation on cortical volumes.
  • BMI also mediated the association between area deprivation and composite neurocognitive scores, specifically impacting working memory and cognitive flexibility.

Conclusions:

  • BMI plays a mediating role in the relationship between low SES and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.
  • Findings highlight the importance of considering BMI in studies examining SES disparities in brain development and cognition.
  • Interventions targeting BMI may be crucial for mitigating the neurodevelopmental consequences of low SES in children.

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