TY - JOUR
T1 - Fitness, fatness, cognition, behavior, and academic achievement among overweight children
T2 - Do cross-sectional associations correspond to exercise trial outcomes?
AU - Davis, Catherine L.
AU - Cooper, Stephanie
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NIH R01s DK60692 and DK70922 . The authors would like to acknowledge Jerry Allison, Colleen Boyle, Catrina Creech, Mathew Gregoski, Bernard Gutin, Amanda McDougald, Joseph Tkacz, Phillip Tomporowski and other team members for their assistance, and especially the children and families who made the study possible.
PY - 2011/6/1
Y1 - 2011/6/1
N2 - This study examined associations of fitness and fatness with cognitive processes, academic achievement, and behavior, independent of demographic factors, at the baseline of an exercise trial. Methods: Overweight, sedentary but otherwise healthy 7-11. year olds (N = 170) participated in a study of health, cognition and achievement in the Augusta, GA area from 2003-2006. Children underwent evaluations of fatness and fitness, psychological assessments of cognition and academic achievement, and behavior ratings by parents and teachers. Partial correlations examined associations of fitness and fatness with cognitive and achievement scores and behavior ratings, controlling for demographic factors. Results: Fitness was associated with better cognition, achievement and behavior, and fatness with worse scores. Specifically, executive function, mathematics and reading achievement, and parent ratings of child behavior were related to fitness and fatness. Teacher ratings were related to fitness. Conclusion: These results extend prior studies by providing reliable, standardized measures of cognitive processes, achievement, and behavior in relation to detailed measures of fitness and fatness. However, cross-sectional associations do not necessarily indicate that improving one factor, such as fatness or fitness, will result in improvements in factors that were associated with it. Thus, randomized clinical trials are necessary to determine the effects of interventions.
AB - This study examined associations of fitness and fatness with cognitive processes, academic achievement, and behavior, independent of demographic factors, at the baseline of an exercise trial. Methods: Overweight, sedentary but otherwise healthy 7-11. year olds (N = 170) participated in a study of health, cognition and achievement in the Augusta, GA area from 2003-2006. Children underwent evaluations of fatness and fitness, psychological assessments of cognition and academic achievement, and behavior ratings by parents and teachers. Partial correlations examined associations of fitness and fatness with cognitive and achievement scores and behavior ratings, controlling for demographic factors. Results: Fitness was associated with better cognition, achievement and behavior, and fatness with worse scores. Specifically, executive function, mathematics and reading achievement, and parent ratings of child behavior were related to fitness and fatness. Teacher ratings were related to fitness. Conclusion: These results extend prior studies by providing reliable, standardized measures of cognitive processes, achievement, and behavior in relation to detailed measures of fitness and fatness. However, cross-sectional associations do not necessarily indicate that improving one factor, such as fatness or fitness, will result in improvements in factors that were associated with it. Thus, randomized clinical trials are necessary to determine the effects of interventions.
KW - Academic achievement
KW - Adiposity
KW - Behavior
KW - Child
KW - Cognition
KW - Cross-sectional
KW - Fitness
KW - Obesity
KW - Overweight
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.020
DO - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.020
M3 - Article
C2 - 21281668
AN - SCOPUS:79958053605
SN - 0091-7435
VL - 52
SP - S65-S69
JO - Preventive Medicine
JF - Preventive Medicine
IS - SUPPL.
ER -