Table 2.
Ten cross-sectional studies of the association between cognition and factors of the Metabolic Syndrome in children and adolescents
| Reference | MetS Factor | Clinical Population |
Control Group |
Cognitive tests | Covariates | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cserjesi, et.al. (2007) | Elevated Waist Circumference | 12 obese boys mean age 12.1 | 12 Age-matched non-obese boys | D2 Attention Endurance Test, WCST (sig), Digit Span Memory Task, Raven Matrices, Semantic Verbal Fluency (non-sig) | None | Obese performed worse on WCST & D2 attention endurance task despite similar memory & intelligence |
| Gunstad, et.al. (2008) | Elevated Waist Circumference | 45 BMI≥ 95th % 6–19 y.o.; mean age of entire sample = 12.45 | 433 BMI <95th % divided into 3 weight groups | Digit Span Backward, TMT-B, Verbal Recall, Animal Fluency, Finger Tapping (all non-significant) | Age, estimated IQ | No associations between BMI & cognition |
| Lande et.al., (2003) | Elevated Waist Circumference, Hypertension | 5,077 6–16 y.o. (NHANES) | None | WISC-R Block Design & Digit Span, WRAT Arithmetic (sig), WRAT Reading (non-sig) | Race, sex, parent ed., poverty, meds/antihistamines, general health, lead level, BMI, heart rate | Those with systolic BP >90th % performed worse on block design, digit span and math; 55.6% of these were overweight or obese. |
| Li, et.al. (2008) | Elevated Waist Circumference | 360 BMI ≥ 95th % 8–16 y.o. mean age 12.03 | 2,159 BMI < 95th % divided into 2 weight groups | WISC-R Block Design & Digit Span, global functioning (sig), WRAT Reading & Arithmetic (non-sig) | Age, gender, ethnicity, education, marital status of family head, family income, dwelling, hours watching TV, exercise, health status, blood pressure, heart rate, iron deficiency, psych & social variables | Those with BMI ≥ 95th % performed significantly worse on digit span, block design & global functioning |
| Lokken, et.al. (2009) | Elevated Waist Circumference | 25 12–19 y.o., mean age 16.2, mean BMI=54 | Compared performance across existing normative test data | Digit Span, CPT, Verbal Inference, Switching Attn, Maze Task (sig), Go-No-Go (non-sig) | None | Obesity associated with worse performance, esp. attention and executive functioning |
| Maayan, et.al. (2011) | Elevated Waist Circumference | 54 obese 14–21 y.o. Mean age 17.32 | 37 lean 14–21 y.o. Mean age 17.50 | COWAT, TMT, Stroop, Attn/Concentration & Memory Indexes from WRAML-2 (all sig) | IQ | Obese performed worse on all cognitive measures |
| Parisi, et.al. (2010) | Elevated Waist Circumference | 71 Overweight and 51 obese 6–13 y.o. | 188 6–13 y.o. | WISC-R, SDAG (parents) (varying results) | None | Sig. weight group differences on PIQ; BMI group predicts PIQ; Gender & parental ed. predicts VIQ; Parent ed. predicts TIQ |
| Pauli-Pott, et.al. (2012) | Elevated Waist Circumference | 177 overweight and obese 8–15 y.o. | None | Go-No-Go & Incompatibility Tasks of the Attention Assessment Battery (all significant) | Age, gender, education, SES, general mental ability | Obese showed more inattention; at younger ages, high impulsivity is associated with higher body weight |
| Verdejo-Garcia, et.al. (2010) | Elevated Waist Circumference | 8 overweight & 19 obese 13–16 y.o. | 34 Normal weight 13–16 y.o. | 5 digit test, TMT, Iowa Gambling (sig), Stroop, Letter Number Seq., Similarities, Zoo Map, Rev. Strategy Application, (non-sig) | Age | Excess weight perform worse on inhibition, flexibility & decision making |
| Yau, et.al. (2010) | Elevated Waist Circumference, Hyperglycemia | 18 obese T2DM, mean age 16.46 y.o. | 18 Obese non-T2DM mean age 17.16 y.o. | DSST, IQ, WRAML Verbal (sig), WASI Subtests, WRAT, WRAML Visual & Working Memory, Dig Vig, WCST, ToL, COWAT(non-sig) | Matched on age, sex, grade, SES, BMI, Waist, WHR & Sleep apnea | T2DM performed significantly worse performance on all cognitive domains |