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Overweight and obese children are likely to suffer reduced intelligence and a greater risk of depression according to a new study.

The new study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, looks at links between weight and cognition among over 5,000 children aged 9-11 years. Baseline indices of weight, including body-mass index and waist circumference, and cognition were taken and then measured again during the two-year study.

The results showed that children who had lower baseline cognition were likely to gain more weight over the span of the study. Higher baseline body-mass index was also associated with greater depression symptoms and problems, and, likewise, higher baseline psychopathology was associated with greater weight gain.

No explanation was given for the observed links between intelligence and weight gain and mental health and weight gain.

Other studies have shown links between obesity and IQ in children. A 2018 study, for example, showed that children who are overweight in the first two years of their life have lower scores for perceptual reasoning and working memory compared to children who are not overweight.

More recently, in 2022, a study showed that obesity in children shrinks the brain’s white matter and reduces the thickness of the cortex, which is critical for overall brain function.

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