According to statistics, obesity in children is on the rise. New research results from a long-term study now show that obesity and poor physical fitness in youth can have long-term consequences for health – more precisely: for the brain.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, about every sixth child in Germany is overweight or obese. Among 11 to 13-year-olds it is even one in five.1 Too many kilograms in childhood and adolescence can, however, have negative health consequences well into adulthood. A study from Australia now shows that obesity in children affects the brain years later. In other words, the risk of cognitive decline in middle age and thus the likelihood of later developing dementia increases.
Association between fitness, obesity and cognitive performance
The study is the first significant investigation to establish associations between objectively measured fitness, childhood obesity and cognitive functioning in middle age. For this, more than 1200 people were observed for over 30 years.
Consequences of being overweight on mental performance
Cognitive decline is an issue that really only affects people as they get older. Who is afraid of developing dementia at 60 when they are young? Parents should now sit up and take notice: If the offspring is already overweight in their youth, this can not only cause various diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, joint problems or depression, but also serious long-term consequences. Researchers from Melbourne in Australia have now published the results of a long-term study in the «Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport», according to which overweight and poorly fit children also achieved poorer cognitive performance in later life.2
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Study ran for more than 30 years
The long-term study started in 1985. 1244 Australian children between the ages of seven and 15 were examined for their fitness using strength and endurance tests. The waist-to-hip ratio was also measured. Between 2017 and 2019, the participants (now between 39 and 50 years old) were observed again and subjected to a series of computer tasks that challenged brain power.
Those with the highest levels of muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness and lower mean waist-to-hip ratios in childhood also had better processing speed and attention. Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to the body’s ability to supply muscles and heart with oxygen during physical activity. The subjects who were fitter at the time also had better global cognitive function later in middle age. This means their general ability to cope with everyday activities and tasks is also better.
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Early obesity and later poorer cognitive health
So, athletic children with high muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and endurance have better cognitive health later in life. But does that automatically mean that the less athletic participants have poorer cognition?
In this case, yes, because those subjects with worse fitness scores later also had poorer psychomotor skills and lower global cognition compared to those with the highest fitness level and the lowest waist-to-hip ratio. Deterioration can begin as early as middle age, study lead author Michele Callisaya of Monash University in Australia said in a university statement.3 Lower performance has not only been linked to cognitive impairment in middle age, but also to dementia in later life .
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Prevention of overweight in children
«Importantly, the study also shows that protective strategies against future cognitive decline may have to begin in early childhood so that the brain can develop sufficient reserves against diseases such as dementia in old age,» says Callisaya. This means that childhood obesity should be taken even more seriously than is already advisable. Parents who develop strategies against obesity and poor fitness at an early stage can do a lot for their child’s future and make a major contribution to improving cognitive performance in middle and late life. Early activity, physical activity and good fitness ensure a healthy metabolism – and this in turn can reduce the risk of dementia in old age.
The role of dementia in the future
The number of dementia cases worldwide will triple to over 150 million by 2050. This is what a study from 2019 predicts.4 This is primarily due to the aging of the population. At the same time, however, it is a problem that also has underlying unhealthy lifestyle factors. Due to technical progress, there is no longer sufficient movement in everyday life and self-thinking is largely taken away from you. But smoking, obesity and chronically high blood sugar levels also promote dementia, Alzheimer’s & Co. Physical activity, eating lots of fatty fish, fruit and vegetables and reducing fatty and sugary foods as well as alcohol can reduce the risk.