Children at high familial risk for obesity show executive functioning deficits prior to development of excess weight...

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Obesity Research
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Familial risk for obesity is a significant predictor of childhood obesity.
• Executive functioning, encompassing inhibitory control and working memory, is crucial for cognitive development and behavior regulation.
• Understanding early markers of obesity risk is vital for timely intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether children with healthy weight but varying familial risk for obesity exhibit differences in executive functioning.
• To compare executive functioning between children at high and low familial risk for obesity.
• To examine the association between familial risk, child adiposity, and executive function.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 93 children (age 7-8 years) without obesity was assessed.
• Familial risk was determined by maternal weight status.
• Executive functioning was evaluated using go/no-go, stop-signal, and N-back tasks; adiposity was measured by DXA.

Main Results:

• Children at high familial risk demonstrated poorer inhibitory control compared to those at low risk.
• Both high familial risk and greater child adiposity were linked to worse working memory performance under high cognitive load.
• Familial risk had a substantially greater relative effect on executive functioning than percent body fat.

Conclusions:

• Deficits in executive functioning may precede the development of obesity in children with high familial risk.
• These findings highlight the role of familial factors in shaping early executive function and obesity risk.
• Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms linking maternal obesity to child executive functioning and obesity risk.