Groppe Karoline, Elsner Birgit
a Department of Psychology , University of Potsdam , Brandenburg , Germany.
Child Neuropsychol. 2017 Feb;23(2):129-147. doi: 10.1080/09297049.2015.1089981. Epub 2015 Sep 29.
There is considerable evidence for an association between obesity and impaired executive function (EF) in adolescents and adults. However, little research has examined EF in overweight or obese children. Furthermore, data on EF in underweight individuals is lacking. In addition, there is no consensus on the directionality of the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and EF, and longitudinal studies are rare. Thus, the present study examined whether children differ in their performance on a battery of EF tasks depending on their weight status (underweight, normal-weight, overweight), and investigated the longitudinal cross-lagged associations between EF and BMI. Hot EF (delay of gratification, affective decision-making), cool EF (attention shifting, inhibition, working memory [WM] updating), and BMI were assessed in 1,657 German elementary-school children at two time points, approximately one year apart. Overweight children exhibited slightly poorer attention shifting, WM updating, and affective decision-making abilities as compared to normal-weight children. Unexpectedly, they did not show any deficits in inhibition or delay of gratification. EF levels of underweight children did not differ significantly from those of normal-weight children. Furthermore, poor attention shifting and enhanced affective decision-making predicted a slightly higher BMI one year later, and a higher BMI also predicted poorer attention shifting and WM updating one year later. The latter association between BMI and subsequent EF scores, however, diminished when controlling for socioeconomic status. Results indicate that hot and cool EF plays a role in the weight development of children, and might be a promising factor to address in preventive interventions.
有大量证据表明，青少年和成年人的肥胖与执行功能（EF）受损之间存在关联。然而，很少有研究考察超重或肥胖儿童的执行功能。此外，关于体重过轻个体执行功能的数据也很缺乏。此外，体重指数（BMI）与执行功能之间关系的方向性尚无定论，纵向研究也很少见。因此，本研究考察了儿童在一系列执行功能任务上的表现是否因其体重状况（体重过轻、正常体重、超重）而有所不同，并研究了执行功能与BMI之间的纵向交叉滞后关联。在两个时间点对1657名德国小学生进行了热执行功能（延迟满足、情感决策）、冷执行功能（注意力转移、抑制、工作记忆[WM]更新）和BMI的评估，两个时间点相隔约一年。与正常体重儿童相比，超重儿童的注意力转移、WM更新和情感决策能力略差。出乎意料的是，他们在抑制或延迟满足方面没有表现出任何缺陷。体重过轻儿童的执行功能水平与正常体重儿童没有显著差异。此外，注意力转移差和情感决策增强预示着一年后BMI会略高，而较高的BMI也预示着一年后注意力转移和WM更新会较差。然而，在控制社会经济地位后，BMI与随后执行功能得分之间的后一种关联减弱。结果表明，热执行功能和冷执行功能在儿童体重发展中起作用，可能是预防性干预中一个有前景的干预因素。
